Black And White - The Stranglers (1978)
The Stranglers were a smarter-than-average pub rock band that got noticed by fitting as well as they could into the punk sound.
Musically, it’s only the vibe that’s really very punkish. There’s a gothy goofiness and dark humor to it all that makes it pretty distinctive. It also rocks pretty hard in most places.
Occasionally dissonant, but mostly just raucous, this is a really fun record I hadn’t listened to before.
Tracks I Liked
Nice N Sleazy - sounds like Devo covering The Clash, but it kicks ass
In The Shadows - a mug-along anthem
Death And Night And Blood - an impressionistic mishmash of punk and goth imagery with a great snotty-kid march beat
