Before the likes of the Stone Roses and Oasis dominated the Manchester music scene, there was a small forgettable gig held at Lesser Free Trade Hall. Which subsequently over the years everyone and their mothers have said to have attended. Held by none other than the Manchester punk band Buzzcocks, they are back with their newly recorded album Attitude Adjustment.
The album title is quite fitting though as the original attitude of their older albums like Love Bites is still there in the music however, they have added aspects of Motown into their work and as they aren’t the young punks they used to be they have still kept the authentic sound but just made it to suit them now. Opener ‘Queen of the Scene,’ introduces us to the album with brightly toned guitars. However, during the second verse the song loses momentum slightly and begins to drag and it becomes very tiresome. What shakes the song up from its slumber state is the twangy guitar solo until it slithers back into its old repetitive state.
‘Seeing Daylight’ become very Beatles-esque towards the end of the song and incorporates a swirly, psychedelic guitar solo. One aspect I did really struggle to come to terms with when listening to this album is the voice of Steve Diggle. I do appreciate the fact he has continued to pursue Buzzcocks after the death of Pete Shelley in 2018, however you can tell that his first job in this band was to primarily be the bass guitarist as in the vocal area it becomes quite sludgy and it’s like he can’t keep up with the music. In the slow, mellow outro track, ‘The Greatest of Them All,’ the scaled guitar ballad shines through as one of the strongest songs on the album despite it not following the edgy punk history of the band. The choral gang vocals towards the outro shine through the acoustic guitar to create a nice medley.
‘Heavy Streets’ takes a more foot stomping approach, a complete opposite of the final track of the album. The introduction is very similar to ‘Take Me Out’ by Franz Ferdinand in the way the drums and the guitars work together in this disjointed yet harmonious approach. Bit of a niche reference but the vocals follow the style of Sigue Sigue Sputnik in the way that Steve Diggle has layers and layers of reverb on and instead of the Phil Spector approach they have somehow ended up I’m not even sure if it’s the same spectrum however it’s the opposite end of it.
I like to think of the next song as an ad break in a way for the album as there are 2 different parts to ‘One of the Universe.’ Part 1, I’m a firm believer in the fact that it should’ve stayed as an instrumental break to segue into the next half of the album as the instruments become more jam-session like and the song isn’t long enough to warrant adding a vocal part. Part 2 however, it makes sense to keep the vocal part in this track as a way to sew both songs together and if you put them back together it could’ve sounded a lot more fluid.
Another song completely drenched in reverb is ‘All Gone to War.’ The acoustic track houses The Pogues as a slight instrument in its hand-made basic approach with hard hitting bass drums that shiver you through your core. If the vocals were just left alone it could’ve potentially been one of the best songs on Attitude Adjustment.
Once upon a time Buzzcocks were known for their powerful, viciously sharp guitar riffs that shook through the speakers. Now exactly 50 years on from when they formed as a band, the bass lines take centre stage after Steve Diggle took up the role as front man. In the penultimate track ‘Break That Ball and Chain,’ the bass lines take centre stage not only in this song but permeated throughout. ‘Break That Ball and Chain’ encased vibes from the Clash and more primarily Motown, which was interesting to hear Buzzcocks utilise, as they’ve kept aspects of punk music but not typically relied on it. As a band on this album, they have spent the first few tracks hooking people in and sadly towards the end is where they typically got more experimental. It begs the question, that if they had to spend the first half of the album trying to hook original listeners in by keeping to their punk roots that maybe it’s time to hang up the guitars forever?
Buzzcocks: Attitude Adjustment – Released 30 January 2026 (Cherry Red Records)
