Fulham Fallout

Though history rarely credits the Lurkers as much more than West London's answer to the Ramones, think carefully before you assume it's a put-down. Da bruddahs influenced many groups, after all, but how many of them responded by taking the New Yorkers' blueprint and making it wholly their own? True, a handful of tracks on Fulham Fallout do fall unmistakably into Xerox territory (most notably "Hey You," which seems to go on way longer than its 2:55 lifespan). But when the band is at its best (notably in their singles "Ain't Got a Clue," "I Don't Need to Tell Her," and "Shadow..."), the album is an astonishing accomplishment, a blur of high octane riffs and unforgettable hooks tumbling over one another without a care for manners or niceties. Equally gripping is "Go Go Go," a drama-packed semi-instrumental that mashes the Buzzcocks' "Moving Away from the Pulsebeat" with the Clash at their Stonesy best, while the blind butchery of "Then I Kissed Her," retitled "Then I Kicked Her" for the occasion, has a raucous energy that is as deliberate as it is dumb. Fourteen tracks make up the original LP; the Captain Oi reissue adds a further dozen bonus tracks, drawn from B-sides, compilations (the seminal Streets collection), demos and more. ~ Dave Thompson