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Review by Garry Johnson
Greater Hits Volume One: Plums was so strong we wondered how the Gonads
could ever follow it. But Greater Hits Volume Two: The Mutt's Nuts has
"raised the bar" even higher, with twenty brilliant songs that combine Oi,
Ska and pure punk aggression with the band's trademark passion and humour.
The album kicks off with the old crowd-pleaser 'Go Mad With The Gonads'
first played in Charlton in 1977.
Other golden oldies include the classic 'The Joys of Oi' with its great
sing-along chorus, the angry stomp of 'Rob A Bank' which hits like an armed
heist, and 'Oi Nutter' - a shit-kicking version of the band's 1997 come-back
single.
We also get the full, extended version of 'Oily Rag' which urges smokers to
"storm the pubs and light your fags", and the mighty 'Conquest' with its
lyrics inspired by the Lord Of The Rings; Steve Whale guests on lead guitar.
The hardest hitting tracks are the anthemic 'England In My Blood', a
heart-felt plea to fight for lost democratic rights and civil liberties, and
the dark and dangerous 'These Are Our Streets' - a hardcore inferno about
people power.
There are surprises too. 'Skinhead Girl' sounds like AC/DC in Doctor Marten
boots, while 'Beki Bondage Please' was first played live in Leeds as
'Rebecca Pollard Please' by the Unidentified Cockney Gonads, a one-off
line-up of the band featuring Gal, Mickey Geggus from the Cockney Rejects
and rock legend Pete Way.
This album is packed with gems! My favourite is the new version of 'Sandra
Bigg (Really Big)', a song from the Nads' first ep, Pure Punk For Row
People, which now includes Sandra's response. 'Got Any Wrigleys John' was on
that first ep as well, but it didn't sound as powerful then as it does now.
Everyone loved 'Oi Mate' from Volume One, and Volume Two brings us more
infectious Ska songs - 'Lotto', about winning the Lottery, 'Getting Pissed'
(cheers!) and 'Stop That Drumming' which features the ravishing Wattsie
Watts playing a nagging wife (something she does too well!). The band calls
these songs "Oi-Tone, the place where Oi and Ska collide after 18 pints and
a vindaloo."
Guest singers include the blues rock veteran Fin Muir from Waysted on 'Lager
Top Blues', Leah McCaffrey who belts out 'She Can't Whip Me' and old Gonads
vocalist Annie Auldiron who returns after thirty years to sing 'I Don't
Wanna' a duet with teenage fan Kamber Wells.
'Karl Marx Supported Millwall' is another of Gal's hilariously unlikely
historical revelations, while 'Haemorrhoid' pays homage to the late great
Phil Lynott.
And that's it, 20 monster Gonads songs that deliver everything you want from
this veteran Oi band. They are still having a laugh and a say after 35
years, and yet they still sound fresh. They have the energy of a thousand
milkmen and clearly enjoy every minute.
How on earth will they ever top this?
Garry Johnson, 2012
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- Go Mad with the Gonads
- Rob a bank
- England in our blood
- Oi Nutter
- Sandra Bigg
- Lotto
- Oily Rag
- Beki Bondage please
- She cant whip me
- Karl Marx supported Millwall
- These are our streets
- Got any wrigleys
- getting pissed
- Conquest
- The Joys of Oi!
- Lager Top Blues
- Skinhead girl
- I dont wanna
- Haemorrhoid
- Stop that druming
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