People have been arguing about punk rock since the big bang that created that high decibel universe. The Damned were at the heart of that revolution and have returned like resurrected vampires to take back the(ir) punk rock crown. Few bands have managed to maintain their manic muse, few bands have been key catalysts to a musical genre, few bands have managed to improve like fine old wines and few have managed to do it with such fantastic chaos, captivating style and shape shifting music as The Damned. Their mix of theatrics and raw power combine to create their vaudeville immaculate and gothic horror shivers, dark music hall anthems and a perfect punk rock. In the rules of rock ’n’ roll most bands fade away but then the Damned were never playing by the rules. One of the originals who sparked the punk rock riot doesn’t mean they had to stay there. Their trip has been long and thrillingly strange and ‘Darkadelic’ is a late period triumph that entwines their core obsessions of garage/psyche/punk rock old black and white Universal horror film soundtracks and even moments of sweet jazz which they sieve with a brooding and enthralling melody. This is a tasteful aural experience with exquisite guitar playing delivered with a breath taking virtuosity but never loses its inventive punk rock edge. It feels they have been waiting for decades to deal this hand that sees them surpass their early 80s classics such as Machine Gun Etiquette, Black Album and Strawberries whilst nodding at what was loved on all those classic albums. From their 1976 formation to the new album this has been a wild creative trip. Playing by their own rules, The Damned were the first punk band to release a single in Nov 1976, the first punk band to release an album and six months later they were the first punk band to release a second album, they were the first punk band to tour America and then the first punk band to split up. They did this all by the autumn of 1977 before most people had cut their hair and even woken up to punk rock. The Damned were then the first punk band to reform and came back with all guns blazing with their third album, 1979’s Machine Gun Etiquette, and then lurch through the years with their powder keg music, sartorial style, innovative takes on psyche and goth and even a brush with pop stardom in their grandiose pop goth phase of the late eighties. For a form of music that was meant to be of the moment and flash in the pan, punk has become a much loved historical epoch and it’s perfect that one of the form’s key originators and one of the most prestigious bands coming out of the 70s scene are the only true survivors and are still, somehow, at the top of their dark game. Few classic bands still have the inspiration left to make albums and few make albums as good as the aptly named Darkadelic. 2018’s Evil Spirits finally established the band in the top ten of the album charts giving the band the confidence to make an even more guitar driven album that celebrates their garage psych influences that have always been a part of all their best work. Taking advantage of the enforced down time of the pandemic they have been in creative overdrive in the past year either working remotely or in Thomas Mitchener’s studio just outside Watford. The Damned may have been the punk pioneers but their muse has always been multi dimensional. From their first rehearsal onwards the band were beyond the cliche. They were the only “classic” punk rock band to combine gothic sounds and horror aesthetic with punk music, shaping a strong identity of their own. They had a baritone crooning vocalist instead of a shouter. They also had great songs and an intense manic energy plus a wild abandon of ideas. The new album brings all these threads together into a perfect whole. Their unlikely strange brew of psychedelia, garage rock, punk rock with a gothic twist has never sounded so well realised. It’s this...

The Damned

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