Germ Free Adolescents - X-Ray Specs (1978)

Ideated from: The Eights. going back ten years each day

This is more like it. A record from an “8” year that I really had fun listening to.

I’ve gotta think that a lot of postpunk and new wave bands liked X-Ray Spex more than some of the other punk bands, because you can hear a lot of early 80s in this 1978 record.

Musically, it’s well-executed start to finish, and the music is a lot more accopmlished than some of the more famous punks.

Thematically they’re kind of one-note: consumerism and artificiality are the enemy. But it’s a coherent worldview that makes some good points, and is a lot more thought-through than the “everything sucks and it sucks that everything sucks” ethos of a lot of 70s UK punk.

Also there should have been more sax solos in first wave punk music. These guys realized that.

Tracks I Liked

The Day The World Turned Dayglo - great driving beat.

Plastic Bag - A banger. The Who Sells Out, but more earnest.

Let’s Submerge - a great shout-along