Buzzcocks

1	Jerk 2:21
2	Keep On 3:19
3	Wake Up Call 3:19
4	Friends 2:57
5	Driving You Insane 2:24
6	Morning After 2:34
7	Sick City Sometimes 2:59
8	Stars 2:46
9	Certain Move 3:02
10	Lester Sands 2:47
11	Up for the Crack 2:23
12	Useless 4:01

Barnes & Noble

These first-wave punk pioneers surprised some folks by hitting the ground running upon their reunion more than a decade back. What's been most amazing, however, is the way in which Pete Shelley and company have maintained their momentum since, as opposed to doddering off after a one-off kudo-gathering. This self-titled disc is probably the strongest to have emerged from the Buzzcocks' camp since the band's heyday. Even though he's approaching 50, Shelley sounds as puppyish as ever, practically bouncing off the walls during the hooky mea culpa "Jerk" and "Keep On," which is laced with the same stinging guitar sound that propelled songs like "Operator's Manual" and "Orgasm Addict" into countless brains over the years. Interestingly enough, co-founder Howard Devoto, who jumped ship to form Magazine shortly after the band released its first EP, has returned to the fold in a behind-the-scenes role. His dark, brooding lyrics and post-glam sonic sense give songs like "Lester Sands" heft to counterbalance Shelley's often mercurial vision. A quarter century ago, these Mancunians served notice that what they wanted to do was "give a buzz, cocks." Fortunately their goals don't seem to have changed a whit. David Sprague

All Music Guide

On-stage, the reunited Buzzcocks have been a consistently superb live act since Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle began making the rounds again in 1989, but the second edition of the band hasn't had quite the same degree of success in the studio. While Trade Test Transmission and All Set certainly had their moments, neither was up the standards of the group's 1977-1980 glory days, and 1999's Modern was by any standards a severe disappointment. So it's encouraging to report that Buzzcocks, the band's fourth studio set since their reunion, is the strongest album this band has created since returning to active duty. If Shelley and Diggle have moved past teenage angst into the divisive confusion and frequent bitterness of adult life in their lyrics (as well they should have), their songwriting has also developed a hard-edged clarity and flinty intelligence that suits they new material well; and longtime fans will doubtless prefer the two Pete Shelley/Howard DeVoto collaborations here over the brave but muddled electronic experiments of their Buzzkunst album. Musically, this is tough, propulsive music which rocks with a direct and spirited pulse that lacks a dash of the jangle of their pioneering pop-punk singles but boasts a muscular gravity which suits the songs very well indeed. And the production by bassist Tony Barber serves the material well, giving the band a sleek but thick sound which suits both the hooky melodies and the chunky roar of the guitars. If Buzzcocks doesn't reinvent this band, it does give their approach a bit of an overhaul, and the results make for an album which holds onto their strengths while lending a more mature perspective to their work; hard to imagine Green Day or Rancid having anything this interesting up their sleeve 27 years down the line from their first recording. Mark Deming

Entertainment Weekly

Hooks are plentiful, and tunes... lodge themselves in your head. (B+) Tom Sinclair

The New Yorker

Easily the strongest set since the band’s vintage days. Ben Greenman