SVATE return with their biggest and boldest statement yet, the conjoined two-headed mutant, ‘Double Bastard’. Twenty-five musical cuts of Saturday night kebab meat for Sunday morning breakfast all lovingly dolloped on a plastic plate in a dog eared high rise somewhere north of Wigan. Opener ‘Teenage Teenagers’ nails our next generation’s attitude, stamp and style from the middle age perspective set against an infectious riff and of course that sing-a-long-a-Spunk chorus. Next up is the chugging ‘Marvellous Manifesto’ before a, One Way Or Another, ‘Fixtures And Fittings’ comes close to being a love-ish song. The infantile Punk spirit is carried on shoulder high on the poignant ‘Plasticine’ while the pace but not the attitude slows on the mate mansplaining ‘Shit Excuse’. ‘Super Dooper’ opens with a Bad News chord change and the line “Special powers not special needs” it also includes an “Easy peasy lemon squeezy” chorus which only helps to mask the talent that bubbles beneath this understated volcano. If Peter Kay was a pissed up speed freak hanging out the back of the local bike he would write lyrics for Spunk Volcano. A motoring ‘Edging On The Side Of Caution’ is followed by the cuts ‘n’ grazes on the “Wohoo” chant-a-thon of the, it’s under the sink with the Jiff, ‘TCP’, “A fucking stinger I hope I never cut my finger”, genius. ‘Independent Fire’ goes full Lemmy before a poetic, yes poetic, ‘Red Rings’ bares the alcoholics view of life and the futility that engulfs so many desperate victims. A domestic row ends up in the ‘Spare Room’ while an uber angry ‘Road Rage’ thrashes its head against an uninsured XR3 steering wheel at the Aldi drop-off. The first disc ends with a campfire bongo acoustic ‘Old Wives Tales’.
The head-shaking ‘Death Or Glory’ kicks the shins of lyrical normality with steel toe-capped words on a Post-punk boot. ‘Sucking Up’ is ‘Something Else’ done Spunk style while ‘Dirty Pictures’ is heartbreak from the factory floor, a petrol forecourt and the other half’s infidelity has never sounded so utterly puerile. The albums hip/head noshing theme continues on ‘Here Come The Zombies’ a thrash metal ‘Personality Black Hole’ and the anti-celebration of ‘99%’. A powerful ‘Inbred’ bully’s off with the line “Your sister’s prossie and your Mum’s got Aids, your Dad’s never worked but your brothers Ok” it pulls no punches or dairy lea packed lunches. A reflective ‘Daft As Brushes’ breezes past the mainstream flicking the V’s and chucking empty cans at terrified onlookers. The stray dog bark of ‘Sick Of Saying The Same Things’ is Motorhead through a tea strainer while ‘Scared Of Needles’ is every nurse’s walk-in nightmare. The final duo of ‘Blinded’ and a brutal ‘You Think You’re Punk Rock But You’re Not’ round off twenty-five Spunk filled ice cream cones of outsider Lidl own brand Jim Bowen on benefit street Rock ‘N’ Roll. Regrettably, I fucking loved it.
SPUNK VOLCANO AND THE ERUPTIONS
DOUBLE BASTARD
Avenue Record