Germ Free Adolescents

Product Information

Dolan, Jon (May 2001). "The 50 Most Essential Punk Records – 5. X-Ray Spex: Germfree Adolescents". Spin. Vol.17, no.5. p.108 . Retrieved 23 October 2020.

In an age of burgeoning A.I. and rampant outsourcing, the sci-fi poetry of “Genetic Engineering” is even more prophetic, as Poly declares that “genetic engineering could create the perfect race… could exterminate/introducing worker clones/as our subordinated slave.” Her grim propositions have lost none of their daunting edge. Punks were screaming “NO FUTURE,” and fair enough, but Poly went further, deeper; her songs dared to imagine just how bad hellish normalization could be. And here we are.

Intro

Probably the best release from all the first wave of UK punk bands (and I'm including the Clash and the Pistols in that), this is a blistering set of classic tunes that really epitomise the mood of the time. There are tons of great riffs and clanging rhythms, underpinned by some incessant sax lines that provide a slyly melodic counterpoint to all the noise going on around them. Poly Styrene's harsh, shrill, almost atonal vocals set it all off brilliantly, and the lyrics - taking pot-shots at consumerism and the difficulty of creating personal, alternative identities in what was/is fundamentally a conservative and conformist society - are bang on the money. In late September 1977, a studio recording of "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" was released as a single. Today, the 45 is regarded as their most enduring artefact, both as a piece of music and as a sort of proto-grrrl catchphrase. [26] [27] Opening with the spoken/screamed line, "Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard but I think— oh, bondage, up yours!", the song could be interpreted as a premonition of the riot grrrl movement 15 years later, although Styrene herself insists it was more intended as an anti-consumerist/ anti-capitalist jingle, and was not exclusively feminist in nature. Her inspiring story encapsulates what should be the legacy of punk: not simply spiky rebelliousness, but a self-aware sensitivity to the world that can help shape how we navigate the music industry and our lives as a whole. I Am a Cliche shows how Poly’s innate sensitivity was often misunderstood and exploited – yet for me she remains a radiant symbol of defiance, luminous rage and joy. I believe that she dreamed of reaching a higher level of consciousness through art and wanted to examine a more spiritual route to identity. Her music and lyrics transcended the everyday, stretching the limits of the imagination.

From Concrete Jungle Festival to X-ray Spex live at the Roundhouse". symondlawes.blogspot.co.uk. 19 March 2011 . Retrieved 20 October 2015. In keeping with its subject, the new film Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche is not your average music documentary. It shows Poly struggling to deal with fame at a young age, disbanding X-Ray Spex and abandoning the limelight to live in a Hare Krishna commune. It thoughtfully reflects on themes of creativity, identity, spirituality, motherhood, loss and mental health. The central voice is that of Poly’s daughter, Celeste Bell, confronting the difficulty of mourning the loss of a mother who had been so loved, yet so complicated. Through archival footage and interviews, the film examines the uneasy line between how the music press categorised and celebrated Poly Styrene as a rebel and a figurehead, overlooking the vulnerability of Marianne Elliott-Said. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 354 in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. [23] Cover versions and cultural references [ edit ] Long-running California punk band NOFX has performed a cover version of Germfree Adolescents live. [24]

Reviews

Dimery, Robert, ed. (2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (revised and updateded.). Universe Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2. The same reviewer in The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music sums up the band's 1970s contribution as "one of the most inventive, original and genuinely exciting groups to emerge during the punk era". [33] Reformation [ edit ] Of course, it could still be argued that embarking on a project like this is increasingly difficult in an era of streaming and fragmented taste. But that was part of what made rebooting the RS 500 fascinating and fun; 86 of the albums on the list are from this century, and 154 are new additions that weren’t on the 2003 or 2012 versions. The classics are still the classics, but the canon keeps getting bigger and better. Written By Thompson, Dave (2000). Punk . Ontario: Collector's Guide Publication. p.102. ISBN 1-896522-27-0. It was a tremendous record… Whatever else X-Ray Spex might achieve, Oh Bondage had already done more than most groups manage in an entire career Poly Styrene died of spinal and breast cancer on 25 April 2011 in East Sussex, England, at the age of 53. [38] Documentary and biography [ edit ]