Grapthar's Song of the Day: The Damned 'Smash it Up (Parts 1 & 2)'

grapthar (74)in #music • 5 years ago

The Damned - Smash it Up (Parts 1 & 2)

The Damned are another of the

UK Punk originals, having been formed in 1976 in London by singer Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist (and later guitarist) Captain Sensible, and drummer Rat Scabies. Wikipedia - The Damned Over the years, they have had a number of lineup changes, though the original is the most celebrated. The band stood out from other punk acts of the time by incorporating ideas from '70s Stadium rock and the psychedelic scene of the '60s, with detailed and complex song structures and interesting tones/timbres.

Listen to Smash it Up (Parts 1 & 2) by The Damned here.

This is the closing track

of the band's 1979 album Machine Gun Etiquette, generally considered a seminal record of the British Punk scene. From the opening of the track, you can tell that they were willing to write things outside the "loud, fast and angry" aesthetic of other punk acts, using a really pretty, clean arpeggiated lick to start things off. The song also has some surprisingly upbeat singalong Choruses, though the dark lyrics create a really cool dichotomy. It is also over 5 minutes long, moving through lots of unique parts, a technique that was common amongst the early '70s rock acts, but had sort of died off for the punks of this era.