The Adverts [1977-1978]

This is really some Punk 101, but occasionally you gotta dig such essential bands out from the bottom of the pile. I've been on an Adverts kick for a few weeks, so here are their first three singles + first album. For my money they constitute the best of the first wave of UK punk, and all the songs here are timeless. 'Bombsite Boy,' 'Bored Teenagers,' 'We Who Wait,' ... these and pretty much all of the other songs on these records are certified punk classics. This is one of those bands whose lyrics I really enjoy, and T.V. Smith's vocal delivery is superb. The Adverts were audibly sickened by the punk/new-wave fad, which only intensified their own sense of alienation. I swear, nobody could go back to the likes of the Pistols after hearing the superior nihilistic sneer present here. The sense of impending collapse is palpable, and has held up real well through the decades. It's no time to be 21, indeed.

So grab these if you don't have 'em. You're only hurting yourself if you don't.

One Chord Wonders 7" [1977]

"We must be new wave, they'll like us next year"

Gary Gilmore's Eyes 7" [1977]

Planes burn up through the night like meteorites

Safety in Numbers 7" [1977]

Hug the symbols of my apathy and hog the taste of anarchy

Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts [1978]

Into the cold heart, no hope and all that shit