This bursts out of the speakers as TV Smith Launches into No Time To Be 21 it bursts into life, even as an middle aged man singing it the lyrics still ring true, if not truer still as they distil the fragility of youth into this urgent blast as the nihilism of youth.
What hope does the youth of today have in the malaise of the post covid world, that is encapsulated in the 8 t0 10 second guitar solo.
This review is being written in the same spirit of this album that was recorded on one take with no gaps or pauses like the bands live set the previous day at the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool in 2022. They don't hang about. This review will be completed by the time the record ends.
They always say there is Safety in Numbers something that was very true in the 70's if you didn't want to get a kicking from wandering skinheads, they want a new Wave anything to sweep away the old, tired ways.
The Bored Teenagers are TV Smith with Stefan Haublein, BB Quatro and Marc Carrey, it was engineered and mixed by James Routh at Hard Rock studios in Blackpool who must have worked really hard to set the band up to record all this in one take as it mutates into We Who Wait that chugs along like an express train of impatience for a full life instead of being stuck waiting for anything to happen.
Newboys is faster still totally frantic at the start before it slows right down, as they seek out some love and the hope to not be treated as a Newboy for too long, this song does the switch from slow to fast and back again almost like a blueprint for Grunge's Loud quiet dichotomy.
Drowning Men doesn't sound like a sinking ship, even as the country goes to the dogs once more, this hammers home it's point with pinpoint precision.
On The Roof has an urgent sense of paranoia about the person he has to go up on the roof to meet, is it because they can't be seen in public together.
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My Place is a statement of intent that TV Smith has found his place, and after all these years it's apparent he meant every last word of this song.
Televisions Over is a song that is so much more relevant now than it was in 1977, as the streaming revolution has changed everything, the lyrics of this song couldn't be any more prescient if they tried.
On Wheels is the sound of a group of punks let loose on Blackpool seafront in electric wheelchairs scaring the locals and going nuts before going to see TV Smith later in the day, or it's a look at yet another desperate situation that needs a better solution as this rolls by.
I Surrender is the part of the set when everyone claps along with the band, in this case the band do some clapping before they have to get back to playing their instruments, so you'll have to clap along at home as you surrender to the marvel of the one take album and the super cool and super short guitar solo in this song.
Back From The Dead has new meaning in the post covid world where all of our lives have a back from the dead feel to them, as we can get back to rocking our socks off and having a good time once more as the bass line really gets in your face once more.
Male Assault takes on toxic masculinity and all the horrors it brings to the world be it male on male assault or male on female assault and the madness and stupidity of fighting and starting wars, this is a great call to arms.
New Church is looking for a new religion one that makes sense in our times, that may be different to the times it was written in, but the fact we still so desperately need that New Church now isn't lost on TV Smith or his loyal army of fans.
Bombsite Boy was totally relevant in England in the 1970's when there were still hundreds if not thousands of bombsites left over from World War Two, these days it's more a song for kids growing up in what was Yugoslavia or the modern hells of Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine or Syria, its heart breaking that this song still has so much relevance.
TV Smith introduces The Great British Mistake as the band start to blast away on a song that could be about Brexit but was originally about our imperial ambitions and thinking this small island really should rule the worlds. The guitars are set to flay as if to emphasise the delusion at the heart of the Great British Mistake.
Gary Gilmore's Eyes is played like the huge hit it was, it still sounds just as great now as it did back hearting it as a kid in the 70's although I no longer get to take the piss out of the friend who shared the name and hated having this sung to him by all the other kids, so any bullying I might associate with this song should really be regretted as this tale of serial killers unfolds.
Bored Teenagers certainly sounds strange being sung by a middle aged man, but the emotional rages he sings about seem so apt these days, not just coming from teenagers, but adults too. As we all of course sing along with them.
The close almost sounding like Motorhead on One Chord Wonders, this is pained, impassioned and just as vital as it was when it was written back in the 1970's, yes they may still feel a little obscure, but somehow that obscurity has allowed TV Smith to continue making music throughout his adult life and for that we should all be grateful so go buy this and marvel at what he and his band can do in a one take session, just like this one take review that will have no more editing once the last chord ends.
