NEAT NEAT NEAT
The best of the early Damned
DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED
STIFF, 1977
The first punk single, “New Rose”, and its irresistible follow-up “Neat Neat Neat” set the pace for an album that laid the foundations for punk as an expression of pure energy. The custard pie sleeve suggested a lack of seriousness that was out of kilter with the prevailing mood, and it’s obvious now that while their punk peers dreamed of burning everything down, The Damned were more interested in speeding things up. A pure iteration of Brian James’s template for the group, its intentions are signalled by a (fast) cover of The Stooges’ “I Feel Alright”.
8/10