One of these days I am going to buy a jar of Lloyd Grossman’s (no doubt superb) pasta sauce and pour it over a plate of Tesco genuine Italian fresh pasta in a packet and on that day I know that I will have finally sold out. There is, as you might have gathered by now, a side effect to writing reviews whilst under the influence of beer besides wondering about God’s proactive approach to green issues as petrol gets ridiculously expensive whilst the demon drink just gets cheaper and cheaper.
None of this has really anything to do with Tyvek’s “Nothing Fits” album. Apart from the beer, that is. Beer and the Buzzcocks were made for each other and that’s a scientific fact. Living hard and fast whilst being the voice of urban dissent defined that particular band and Tyvek – born in a Detroit basement – revive the spirit of of such first run luminaries of the punk genre. You can therefore take it as read that we are talking a pretty shambolic set here barring some remarkably polished moments like “Underwater To” but that is surely to miss the point.
Cranking up short sharp songs and aiming them at anyone who might listen is positively refreshing in these days of demographically targeted banality. Why, only the other day I found Michael Bublé (the man himself and not just a CD) in my kitchen cupboard next to the Kellogg’s Cornflakes and pot of Robertson’s golliwog free raspberry jam. What I didn’t find in my kitchen cupboard, however, was Tyvek with their raucous pulsating nervousness as displayed in the uncontrolled passion of “Potato”, the moral dubiety of “Animal” (“…would you give a cat lsd?”) or the socio political boxing match of “Outer Limits” (“…Christian justice looks just like revenge”). Tyvek, and you can quote me on this, cannot be homogenised and, indeed, that is yet another scientific fact. They will never be found in your kitchen cupboard.
Less than wonderful sound quality on the vinyl but who cares? Just turn it up and you are back in 1977. Never sell out and remember that it’s only true if you saw it yourself.