Cockney Rejects

• Greatest Hits Volume One [EMI, 1980] B

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Greatest Hits Volume One [EMI, 1980]
Anybody who doubts the artiness of L.A. punk purism should check out the London version--where NME-subscribing suburbanites speed up the Pistols, East End oi boys slow them down (just slightly, to about the tempo of a fast football march). Sure the songs blur too much anyway, especially on side two, but the 'tween-verse rave-ups are rousing throughout, "I'm Not a Fool" is worthy of 1977, the line after "Join the Rejects" is "And get yourself killed," and the toaster-introed "Where the Hell Is Babylon?" ("I wanna go") is an overdue answer song whatever its racial subtext--my only regret is that they didn't slip a dig at the Dolls into it. B