BUZZCOCKS: FLAT-PACK PHILOSOPHY (2006)
1) Flat-Pack Philosophy; 2)
Wish I Never Loved You; 3) Sell You Everything; 4) Reconciliation; 5) I Don't
Exist; 6) Soul Survivor; 7) God, What Have I Done; 8) Credit; 9) Big Brother
Wheels; 10) Dreamin'; 11) Sound Of A Gun; 12) Look At You Now; 13) I've Had
Enough; 14) Between Heaven And Hell.
Can't we just say that this is another late period
Buzzcocks album and leave it at that? Please? I'm not even stating that it sucks or anything — it probably sounds
as good as it can possibly sound, given Diggle's and Shelley's self-imposed
limitations. I just can't think of anything interesting to say. Okay, let's try
ramble-scramble mode for a bit, see where it gets us:
— ʽCreditʼ begins with an automated voice
system instructing you to spend your virtual financial resources in the correct
manner, and soon transforms into an old geezer's rant about "videophones
with all the latest ringtones" that cause a "pile of debts" for
nothing, because "wish I could get something I really need". Well
thanks, guys, for warning us about the 2008 crisis and all two years in
advance. Who knows, maybe if you had made the underlying melody more
interesting, people would take heed and all trouble might have been avoided...
nah;
— ʽSound Of A Gunʼ: hey, this is one song I
really like and would not, in fact, mind taking home with me. The riff's only
advantage is one single chord change, but it makes a big nasty difference, and
I am not sure I've ever heard it before, simple as it is. It's probably about
gun violence, or it takes gun violence as a metaphor for other kinds of
violence, or it takes other kinds of violence as a metaphor for non-violence,
whatever. The point is, it's short, it's tough, it's nasty, it's catchy, I wish
there were more songs here like this one, but life's a bitch;
— ʽBetween Heaven And Hellʼ: ends the album
with atmospheric electronic noises (apparently, they hold regular synthesizer
sales in limbo, to make time pass quicker) and a moody vocal harmony session
where the title is being bounced around from lower to higher harmonies. This
way, nobody can say that Flat-Pack
Philosophy has no art-pop elements, and the Buzzcocks become eligible for
The Beach Boy Hall Of Fame and The Brian Eno Hall Of Fame at the same time. If
only for a few seconds, that is.
Then there are eleven other songs on the album,
but fuck 'em. They all sound the same anyway. My biggest problem, however? I still have no idea what «flat-pack
philosophy» is supposed to mean, even after re-reading the lyrics to the title
track several times. If it's a hint that modern era Buzzcocks music is
assembled from pre-packaged pieces, I'm in. But somehow I doubt that.
I actually enjoyed the album. I think flat pack is a way of shipping/storing merchandise, which seems to be the theme of the record. I like the grumpy geezer punk vibe.
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