ALBUM REVIEW: Just Want To Be Myself (Cherry Red Records)
Cherry Red Records is one of the best in the business at assembling compilation albums. From song selection to the look, feel and presentation, their themed multiple-CD boxsets never disappoint.
A common bugbear among collectors, however, is that most of their sets are CD-only, with no vinyl options available. I Just Want To Be Myself rights that wrong in spectacular fashion; it’s a vinyl-only set featuring 32 tracks over two LPs.
It’s a celebration of the birth of the independent labels which appeared in the UK in the wake of the first wave of punk, between 1977-1979.
Taking its name from The Drones‘ song which kicks off side two, it’s a wonderful slice of nostalgia which is sure to find its way into many old punks’ Christmas stockings this year.
They’ve bent the rules a little to include The Electric Chairs and Pure Hell; both were from the US but their tracks were recorded and released in the UK. But hey, fuck the rules, this is punk rock, right?
These songs were meant to be listened to on vinyl, and hearing the likes of Angelic Upstarts‘ The Murder Of Liddle Towers and UK Subs‘ C.I.D. takes me all the way back to my youth, when I bought them on 7in singles.
There are plenty of big names here, including The Ruts (that bassline on In A Rut!), Cockney Rejects, 999, The Adicts, The Fall and The Rezillos, to name just a few.
The Outcasts‘ Just Another Teenage Rebel still sounds fantastic, as does Spizzenergi‘s Where’s Captain Kirk?, and Patrik Fitzgerald‘s Safety Pin Stuck in My Heart remains an iconic if oft-under-rated song.
But as is generally the case with Cherry Red comps, the real gems are to be found among the lesser-known acts; Puncture, whose Mucky Pup would go on to be covered by The Exploited; US afro-punk Pure Hell‘s manic cover of Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made For Walking, which somehow I’d never heard before; and The Rowdies, whose only single A.C.A.B. is a very rare and collectable thing indeed.
Other artists featured include Eater, The Boys, The Zeros, The Outsiders, Maniacs, ‘O’ Level, The Carpettes, The Wasps and Alternative TV, to name but a few.
At £27.99 for a 2LP set, JWTBM is also very reasonably priced – several of the singles featured would cost more than that on their own. I’d love to see Cherry Red issue more of these compilations on vinyl. 9/10.
- Just Want To Be Myself is a limited edition of 1,000 copies. Get it at your local record shop or direct from Cherry Red HERE. I wouldn’t hang about though – you don’t want to miss out.
