Issued in May 1977, the Outsiders' first album has
attracted some renown as an historical footnote, since it might have been the
first self-released U.K. punk LP, or at least one of the first. (There's also
some dispute as to whether it should be considered self-released, as it did
come out on a label set up by guitarist/singer Adrian Borland's parents that
was technically independent from the band.) Why isn't it cited in punk
histories like, for instance, the Buzzcocks' early-1977 self-released Spiral
Scratch EP is? For one thing, it was panned upon its appearance by some highly
regarded U.K. music critics who championed punk, Julie Burchill and Jon Savage.
For another, it's actually not all that punky, though a few tracks certainly
qualify by most listeners' standards. If you're not expecting a lost prime
class of 1977 document, however, it's not so bad. The title track has the
anthemic spewed lyrics and fast guitar blur typical of early British punk, as
do "Terminal Case" and "Hit and Run," though the latter
veers toward hard rock. On other songs, however, they play decidedly non-punk,
quieter, more introspective material. "Break Free" and
"Weird" are more like moody Jonathan Richman or Peter Perrett than
all-out punk assault; "On the Edge" is like muted Stooges in its
sludgy midtempo wariness; "Start Over" is an actual acoustic guitar-centred
ballad, if a downbeat one; and "I'm Screwed Up," despite the punky
title, is more a grungy hard rock song than a defiant assault. Certainly better
than the initial U.K. music press reviews would have you believe, it's
nonetheless no lost classic, sounding more like a young band with a hint of
promise and some knack for expressing vulnerable frustration. The sound
quality's pretty good for an essentially self-generated effort, but the playing
is sometimes a bit dodgy, the songs lacking in memorable riffs and variety. So
it adds up to something that seems a bit more like a demo than a finished
product, though it certainly has its interest for U.K. punk collectors, in part
because the quieter songs don't stick to a generic formula.
Discussion of punk albums can often find themselves
loaded with contradictions. The Outsiders records are no exceptions. Legend has
it that the true punks couldn’t play. Yet Borland was a guitarist of some
repute. He wasn’t alone in this respect and we could easily point to Stuart Adamson (The Skids), Keith Levene (Clash/PIL) and Marco Pirroni (Banshees/Ants) as other
examples of prodigious axe talent from the punk era. The thing that strikes
most about Borland is just how good a guitarist he was so early into his
career. So much so that on Calling On Youth you’ll find all manner of nods back to previous bands such as The Doors, Velvet Underground and
even Roxy Music, when most punk
bands were rebelling against the past. There are even guitar solos on the
album, usually anathema to supposed punks.
But what did punk rock mean anyway? Nevermind The Bollocks is
supposed to be the landmark album of the era but that isn’t really a punk
record. Listen to the glossy production values and you’ll find that the Pistols famous LP is far
from the scratchy, garage/demo quality of true punk recordings. Indeed some
might venture that punk was merely a movement or concept, that the whole idea
of punk was non-conformation. Thus signing with a label and pressing an album
are at odds with the whole punk ethic. Calling On Youth was a punk album but The
Outsiders hadn’t been signed. The record goes into the history books as the
first self-funded album by any UK punk act. In an era dominated by singles this
might seem about as anarchic a move imaginable. So allow yourself a private
chuckle with though thought that Adrian’s parents put up most of the money.
The music is patchy and sprawling as it could only be.
There are few signals on the album proper of the tense, post-punk soon to
follow. (If you don’t know The Sound, I’ll summarise by saying they were as
close to Joy Division as
any London act ever came. Buy From The Lions Mouth, one of
the truly essential albums of British post-punk.) The extra One To Infinity EP
tracks start to sound tighter and less cluttered, signposting the way
forward. Calling On Youth is a
decent punk record but not much more than a curio, even for fans of The Sound.