Damned Damned Damned

Uncut - 4 out of 5 - "...DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED still thrills after all these years..." Mojo - Ranked #3 in Mojo's "Top 50 Punk Albums" - "...Fast and furious, a fabulous snapshot of punk's earliest, subterranean days..." Q - 4 stars out of 5 - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums" - "...One of the nastiest, most ragged and downright funniest record of the era..." Q (5/02 SE, p.136) - 4 stars out of 5 - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums" - "...One of the nastiest, most ragged and downright funniest record of the era..." Uncut (8/02, p.120) - 4 out of 5 - "...DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED still thrills after all these years..." Mojo (Publisher) (3/03, p.76) - Ranked #3 in Mojo's "Top 50 Punk Albums" - "...Fast and furious, a fabulous snapshot of punk's earliest, subterranean days..."

Released in early 1977, DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED was one of the first punk albums issued and it remains a certified punk classic. Unlike the work of such contemporaries as the Adverts and Slaughter and the Dogs, this stunning debut sounds as fresh and vital today as it did in 1977. The album blasts off with the searing "Neat Neat Neat," a raging slab of buzzsaw guitars, crashing drums, and the sneering vocals of Dave Vanian that ranks among the 20 best punk songs of the era. Never as political as the Sex Pistols or the Clash, the Damned were the original cartoon punks, merrily ripping through such cheerful songs as "Born to Kill," "Stab Your Back," and "Fish" with reckless abandon, playing punk rock for the simple joy of making loud, aggressive music. Other highlights include the group's anthemic hit single, "New Rose," a pounding track that's powered by a monster riff from guitarist Brian James, and a swell rendition of the Stooges' "I Feel Alright." Produced by Nick Lowe (who allegedly sped up the original tapes to give the Damned a "punkier" sound), DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED is essential for any fan of UK or West Coast punk.|

While the Sex Pistols will always have a prominent place in the story of U.K. punk, the Damned did nearly everything first, including the first single, the smoking "New Rose," and the first album, namely this stone classic of rock & roll fire. At just half an hour long, Damned Damned Damned is a permanent testimony to original guitarist Brian James' songwriting (ten of the 12 tracks are his) and the band's take-no-prisoners aesthetic. Starting with Captain Sensible's sharp bassline for "Neat Neat Neat," which rapidly explodes into a full band thrash, the Damned left rhetoric for the theoreticians and political posing for the Clash. All the foursome wanted to do was rock, and that they do here. Dave Vanian already has his spooky-voiced theatrics down cold; "Feel the Pain" indulges his Alice Cooper fascination while the band creates some creepy fun behind him. Most of the time, he's yelping with the best of them, but with considerably more control than most of the era's shouters. Scabies' considerable reputation as a drummer starts here; comparisons flew thick and fast to Keith Moon, and not just for on-stage antics (of which there were plenty). His sense of stop-start rhythm and fills is simply astounding, whether on "So Messed Up" or in his own one-minute goof, "Stab Yer Back." Though the Captain doesn't get his full chance to shine on bass, he's more than adequate, while James just cranks the amps and lets fly. Concluding with a version of the Stooges' "I Feel Alright" that sounds hollower than the original but no less energetic, Damned Damned Damned is and remains rock at its messy, wonderful best. ~ Ned Raggett