Part 7 in a series from my co-blogger (T) and myself (M). This time we take on two different albums from one band.
GBH - City Baby Attacked by Rats
I was working at a record store in 1983 when a co-worker played this album for me, asking me to settle a debate with another co-worker. “Is this punk or speed metal?” I listened to the first four tracks or so, shrugged my shoulders and said “Why can’t it be both?” They looked at me kinda weird and the one guy said, “Well, you know, it’s got that whole fast guitar thing going on, so I’m thinking it’s more metal than punk.” Whatever, dude. I mean, yeah, it’s got fast guitar. Fucking Yngwie Malmsteen plays a fast guitar too, but we’re not gonna call him anything other than a wanker, okay? The world isn’t black and white, guys. It’s not an either/or premise here. Labeling shit is for people who live in tight confines. That ain’t me.
Label? Call it what you want; thrash, punk metal, whatever. City Baby - and GBH by extension - doesn’t need no stinkin’ label. Violent, offensive, dark, dirty, crude, mean and faster than fuck, City Baby - framed by Abrahall’s guttural vocals and Blyth’s blistering guitar work - is an attention deficit’s delight. Blasting through the songs at an average of about two minutes, each tune does what it has to do and then quits. It grabs you in, fucks with your head, gets your heart pumping, slaps you around and then drops you on the floor. Then you get up for another. By the time the album is done, you’ll wonder if you just went through some Yngwie nightmare, where it’s proven that masturbating with your guitar may get people to call you a genius, but pounding your way through some punk-rock-on-speed and leaving people breathless, worn out, scarred, and begging for more counts for a hell of a lot more than having 14-year-old kids with used Fenders trying to mimic your licks. It’s when the 14-year-olds with used Fenders break shit in their garage while going apeshit trying to play "Bellend Bop" that you know you kick some major fucking ass.
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