RICHARD HELL AND THE VOIDOIDS

Richard Hell. What a name. I wish I was called Richard Hell. How cool would I be? Wearing T-shirts with "Please Kill Me" emblazoned across the front. Now that's cool. Yeah, Richard Hell comes across as one cool fucker. Until you hear him sing, that is. I know Prindle's already made the point but to reiterate: you would have thought someone with the surname Hell would have a cooler voice. As it is, Hell sounds like (childhood friend) Tom Verlaine after hanging out with Johnny Rotten too much. Except Hell came along before Rotten. Indeed, it is Hell who is widely credited with inventing the punk image with his ripped shirts, spiked hair, cool surname and nasal, clipped singing style (the "oh oh oh oh oh" refrains on "Liars Beware" is punk through and through). And the heroin addiction. Now for the punch-line: Hell was, of course, an arty poet type with high-brow pretensions far beyond your typical punk goon. He only actually made two albums before becoming a freelance journalist or something. Surprisingly, still alive as well. Sid Vicious obviously didn't pay quite enough attention. So the music on here is pretty punky in parts but in a very sophisticated punk sense. His guitarist, Robert Quine, is quite a unique guitarist within the punk scene with a preponderance on a sort of quirky funk sound rather than overdriven power chords. In fact, Hell is a pretty fine bassist as well. The sleeve-notes say he could barely play but I suspect that is trying to add to the "Richard Hell invented punk" myth because the bass playing on this record is infallible throughout. He really keeps some funky rhythms on his four string. His song-writing is far above par as well with some really memorable tunes present on this album, not least the phenomenal title track. Brian Burks reckons the "blank" stands for insert name here rather than a nihilistic statement but I'd rather think of it as the latter. I wish I belonged to the blank generation. Better than Generation X which I believe is the meaningless buzz-word assigned to us nineties kids. Anyway, "Blank Generation" is maybe the ultimate New York punk song, the whole scene summed up in four minutes or less. The segue from the quirky intro into the full flow on the song is the best moment on the whole album. Given that Hell is more a poet than musician the lyrics are also consistently great. "Who Says?" being another nihilistic anthem. Love and sex are also common themes throughout the album from the album opener "Love Comes in Spurts" (think about it), "Betrayal Takes Two" and the downright disturbing "The Plan". Briefly, "The Plan" involves having a baby daughter to take as a lover. The original album ended with the longest song on the album, "Another World". Relying primarily on another of Hell's funky bass riffs the song represents a great epitome of Hell's work with his eccentric vocals dipping in and out of the lyrics, sometimes just saying the same thing in different voices. This technique is also used to great effect for "Down at the Rock and Roll Club". Apparently, the version on my CD reissue is the alternate version. I don't know why, though. What was wrong with the original? The reissue also has a couple of bonus tracks, a b-side, "I'm Your Man", which is as good as the rest and a surprisingly faithful rendition of Sinatra's classic "All the Way". Isn't that Sid Vicious taking notes at the back? Well, you'll be surprised to learn that this is another classic. I haven't given it 10*, though. I don't know why. Oh and Hell used to be the bassist in Television. Phew, squeezed that one in.

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk