Metal Hammer

UK No. 6 / Vol. 4 : April 3, 1989

Quoting my partner- 'Totally degenerate' he (Steve) enthused while listening to this record for the first time at my place. I agreed (Chris). This is D'n'D's fave club music. Give us seedy bar and a raucous guitar and we're happy as a skint drunk at a wine-tasting. This is garage in the fine tradition of The Ramones, a quoted influence, currently being revived in this country by Mega City Four and The Senseless Things and those Aussie lunatics The Hard-Ons. Like all the above bands this record is packed with live energy, no messin' straight down the line rock 'n' roll.

This band were formed while the various members were down and out, and the lyrics reflect that. Check 'Up Yours' and 'Down on the Corner'. As you might expect, it appears to have been recorded live in the studio, which can only enhance the feeling of fun and excitement that one gets listening to this album.

Groundbreaking song writing and musical variety are not too important here, it's attitude. The closing two tracks of side two are outstanding, although both totally different. A cover of the Stones' ‘Gimme Shelter', stripped down and speeded up, far removed from the original atmospherics, it still does justice to a great rock song. And the final song 'James Dean' is an acoustic work out based around the writers craving to be James Dean for a day, who is 'oversexed and underworked' in their eyes. This is until they discover his later sexual preferences, when it becomes 'I don't want to be James Dean anymore'. This song has all the hallmarks of the poet laureate of sleaze, gutter god Tyla (which is a recommendation if ever we gave one). That's all folks… we're off to garage land. (By the way we flipped a coin to give it its star rating 4 or 5).

Drunk’n’Disorderly