The Exploited - Punk's Not Dead (45th Anniversary Vinyl Edition) 

Forty-five years after it was originally released, Punk’s Not Dead, the classic full-length debut from Scottish punk band The Exploited, has been reissued on a limited-edition black vinyl with a red splatter.  The album’s title was in response to critics saying punk was on its way out with the rise in popularity of new wave and post-punk, and the band was quick to prove them wrong with the opening title track, a chant-along punk anthem with throbbing bass and chainsaw guitars.  Their anthemic cover of Puncture’s “Mucky Pup” is up next and manages to mix a hint of melody into the aggression.  “Cop Cars” is a bouncy, fast paced track with a fun side highlighted by the “mee maw mee maw” lines with vocalist Wattie Buchan impersonating a siren.  Thanks to Gary McCormack’s prominent bass, “Free Flight” is a gritty track that is on the heavier side but still manages to be a little hooky.  Shifting back to the pure, straight ahead punk, “Army Life (Part 2) and “Blown To Bits” show their more political side lyrically, respectively dealing with Wattie’s pre-Exploited stint in the army as a seventeen-year-old and the results of IRA bomb explosions.  Side One’s closing track “Sex & Violence” shifts musically throughout its five plus minutes, but the lyrics are just the title repeated over and over which gets kind of annoying and is a bit of a novelty that wears thin quickly.  Side two opens with another blast of punk with “SPG,” which criticizes the “Special Patrol Group” that was created in London to fight serious public disorder and crime.  They change things up a bit with “Royalty,” which still has punk energy but mixes in a bit of new wave, and with its propulsive drumbeat “Dole Q” has more of a darker intensity that goes with the lyrics about the woes of being on the dole.  “Exploited Barmy Army” is up next and is an anthemic battle cry for the band.  Darker and heavier both musically and lyrically, “Ripper” is a bit out of place, dealing with serial killer Peter Sutcliffe.  The taut, aggressive rapid-fire punk of “Out Of Control” and “Son Of A Copper” bring you to closing track “I Believe In Anarchy,” another punk anthem that is the perfect bookend to the title track that opened the album.  Whether you missed out on it before now or just need to replace that worn out copy, it's the perfect time to grab this newly reissued version.

(Captain Oi!)