Pure Punk Picks
See Her Tonite – The Damned
“She don’t fit in any so called scene. (That’s where all the people who became punks landed). She don’t like going where she’s already been. Afraid rock’n’roll’s gonna end up like art. (Great line!) She can’t like ending what she can’t even start.” Sounds like a description of all the misfits of life, then and now, finding their solace and way into the punk scene.
The years 77′ and 78′ delivered so many great punk albums that it’s understandable that some might have fallen through the cracks, missing my full attention.
I bought their first album at that time but I was unimpressed with it. So, I put it
on the shelf and continued to be impressed with whatever other great album that I became obsessed with that week and the next.
It was several years later when I revisited the album “Damned, Damned, Damned,” that I then realized- what a classic punk album it was and is.
I’ve already written about “New Rose” from that album, which was also the first
British punk single released. And how, I almost saw The Damned at The Rat during the first British tour of any punk band to America. But missed it- Dammit!
But every song on this album is so damn good! Making it very hard for me, (and let’s leave my genitals out of this discussion please!), to choose another song.
I consider the three most classic early punk albums to be The Ramones, The Clash and “Never Mind The Bullocks” by The Sex Pistols. But if I was asked to add a forth one it would have to be “Damned, Damned, Damned.” Damn it!
The Damned were heavily influenced by American proto-punk. I’d describe their early style as a mix of The Mc5 and Iggy & The Stooges with a dash of the New York Dolls in the mix.
There’s even a cover of a Stooges song on this album, “I Feel Alright”, which makes me feel fuckin’ pretty damn great! Even if Boston’s own Mission Of Burma did an even better version. Goddamnit!
The band consists of Rat Scabies on drums, bashing away like an over-stimulated Keith Moon. Captain Sensible- recklessly playing full on energetic, gutsy bass. Keith James on guitar, a subtle virtuoso- original, but also showing his James Williamson and Johnny Thunders influence.
And their secret weapon- vocalist Dave Vanian, adding a goth aspect to the music. I almost wrote influence, but then realized that the term “goth” hadn’t been used yet when this band started. Give credit to him, and Siouxsie Sioux of The Banshees for creating the goth/punk vocal style.
“One, two, three, Go!” begins “See Her Tonite” like a match being lit to a stick of dynamite. There’s a couple of guitar runs- the first one an amphetamine rush of a Johnny Thunders screech followed by a couple of adept, sprawling rockabilly licks that would be worthy of Billy Zoom from X.
This is one of the fastest songs on the album. Here the beat is pushed and rushed during every second. It’s like a forewarning of the hardcore punk music that will soon follow.
The song modulates- moves up a key, recalling to me The Who’s “My Generation.” But the speed, the pulse, the passion and relentless drive suggests more to me, the energy of something new and different arriving.
At the end of this song, drum rolls backing two simple chord accents, doesn’t signify anything clever- just emotion and excitement, exploding in an everlasting ecstasy.
Listening now again to this damn album, I’m kind of amazed how damn little of British rock, except for The damn Who, seemed to have any damn effect on this band.
I’m thinking now, how much they were like The Rolling Stones in ’63. Who pretty much rejected any English styles of music in favor of American blues and rhythm and blues and of course, American rock’n’roll.
I’m also listening now and thinking, (Which is a kind of action that I usually suppress at all cost,) that The Damned were damned good! And though you’d probably guess they’re all dead and playing gigs in hell now. They’re all actually alive- how many older bands can claim this! And I hear they are doing reunion gigs next year. Hot damn!
But Dammit! Individuals don’t live forever, but I believe their body of music surely will.
Because those who are preciously complacent go straight to heaven while the ones who embrace sin, wild and lustfully, are condemned eternally to hell.
But damn! I believe we’ll have a seriously good playlist when we get there.
(Slimedog)
