Review: External Menace

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External Menace
“The Process of Elimination”
(Dr. Strange Records)

I’m just going to come out and say it because everyone realizes it but nobody seems to be acknowledging it: UK punkers need to get over the Sex Pistols.  Dude, I like them as much as the next guy, but give it a rest already.  If the Sex Pistols burst onto the scene today you’d totally think they sucked, but it seems like every Brit-rocker with a mohawk tries to sound just like Johnny Rotten.  External Menace is no exception, as this quasi-retrospective packs twenty-two tracks that could have been recorded in 1979 as easily as 1999.

While “Rude Awakening” and it’s little ska strumming sounds more like The Clash circa “Combat Rock”, the rest of the tunes are just more of the same old same old, tired chords and snot-filled lyrics about anarchy, fascism, and blah blah blah.  Enough already.  Play something new and make us all take note, otherwise I’m filing this under the “been there, done that” category and forgetting about it.