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New York’s punk/blues girl band, follow up their 2016 covers debut No B! with a collection of mostly original material, but the noise levels remain intact. Opening with the lip-curling vocals of Dana “Danger” Athens on the rocking “How Ya Doin’?”, name-checking just about every American city, through to the Lawler – Thornton cover “Black Rat”, the pace never lets up. Having said that, “How Bright The Moon” is a classy ballad, Athens accompanying herself on piano, interspersed with reverent guitar work from Tracy Hightop/Tina “T-Bone” Gorin. The pace hots up again with the rhythm section of drummer Melissa “Cool Whip” and bassist Hail Mary Zadroga doing a sterling job on the Don Robey classic “Turn On Your Love Light”. If classic slow blues is your thing, closer “The Breeze” is for you, cracker! With the plethora of female artists on the blues/rock scene at the moment, gaining momentum must be difficult. But there is enough class on this album for this relatively new band to pull it off. Oh, lastly, keep those names!

While mostly accurate, dismissing Never Mind the Bollocks as merely a series of loud, ragged midtempo rockers with a harsh, grating vocalist and not much melody would be a terrible error. Already anthemic songs are rendered positively transcendent by Johnny Rotten's rabid, foaming delivery. His bitterly sarcastic attacks on pretentious affectation and the very foundations of British society were all carried out in the most confrontational, impolite manner possible. Most imitators of the Pistols' angry nihilism missed the point: underneath the shock tactics and theatrical negativity were social critiques carefully designed for maximum impact. Never Mind the Bollocks perfectly articulated the frustration, rage, and dissatisfaction of the British working class with the establishment, a spirit quick to translate itself to strictly rock & roll terms. the Pistols paved the way for countless other bands to make similarly rebellious statements, but arguably none were as daring or effective.

Pere Ubu unveil their new album, Trouble On Big Beat Street, nearly four years after their previous record for Cherry Red, The Long Goodbye. The Modern Dance (1978) marked the end of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Trouble On Big Beat Street marks the end of The Song. Pere Ubu ended with The Long Goodbye (their last album, also on Cherry Red, from 2019). Pere Ubu begins again with Trouble On Big Beat Street.