ALBUM REVIEW: Cyanide Pills – Singled Out (Damaged Goods Records)
Cyanide Pills are a punk band from Leeds who have been making top quality punk rock since 2008, releasing four studio albums and a whole raft of 7in singles.
Combining the songwriting chops of Buzzcocks with the leather jacket and sneakers aesthetic of the Ramones, they have become a must-see live act over that time with their glam-tinged take on the sound of ’77.
Now, for the first time, Damaged Goods – their record label from the start – have gathered together every one of their 7in releases – all limited runs and some now hard to find – in one place.
Singled Out rounds up the A and B sides of all 14 singles to date, adds a handful of new songs and puts them all on double vinyl and CD.
They range from 2009’s debut single Break It Up – still a staple of their live set – to last year’s split with Swiss band Nasty Rumours, and everything in between, which saves you the bother of trying to them all individually.
Like Buzzcocks, and forebears such as The Undertones and The Clash, the flip sides of their singles are just as essential as the A-sides, with no discernible drop in quality. And what’s more, most of the B-sides are exclusive to the 7ins, and not previously available on albums.
There’s truly not a bad song among the 33 collected here, but a few of my favourites include second single Suicide Bomber, 2022’s The Kids Can’t Be Trusted With Rock ‘n’ Roll and the excellent 2017 B-side My Baby’s Become a Right Wing Extremist.
Cyanide Pills deal in low budget rock ‘n’ roll, and, in the finest tradition of the genre, most of their songs are about being pissed off, or winning or losing girls.
They’re not one-trick ponies, however; 2015 single Government marks a rare foray into politics, while the instrumental B-side Hit It traces their influences all the way back to Duane Eddy and Link Wray.
What’s the new material, I hear you say? Well, we’re brought right up to date with Amalia/My Mind’s On Strike, which are being released as a very limited lathe cut single, and Second Best/New Love, which are only available on a 7in single with Issue 30 of the excellent Safety Pin magazine (available here).
It doesn’t draw a line under the band, however; there’s another limited edition single in the pipeline too, featuring tracks not on this collection. But if there’s a better compilation released than this in 2026, I can’t wait to hear it. 9/10.
- Singled Out by Cyanide Pills is available to pre-order now from Damaged Goods HERE on 2LP or CD.
