“Electric charge to blow you in, to the arms of raging sin/
Wanna ride the tempest wind’
Buzzcocks ‘Senses Out Of Control’
In a darkening musical landscape where viral fads and AI-generated fakery share chart-space with the self-absorbed products of the nation’s stage schools, Buzzcocks shine out as a gleaming beacon of hope.
A constant, ever-evolving presence over the last 45 years of pop culture, the band’s legendary status will be set in stone — literally — with their inclusion in the Music Walk Of Fame in September, joining an illustrious roll call including David Bowie, The Who, Madness and Amy Winehouse.
The band’s never-better live shows, meanwhile, are electrifying reminders of rock music’s power to inspire, educate and inform. All delivered with an energy and conviction of a band half their age.
“It’s my lifeblood,” says Steve Diggle — 68 years young — of a non-stop touring schedule which over the summer will see them play to thousands of fans across Europe and the UK.
“I’ve still got the fire in my belly. Some musicians get bored of being on the road, but I’m institutionalised. I’ve done 50-odd years of staying in hotels. It’s what I signed up for. Ever since I saw Bob Dylan in the back of a black taxi in (D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 documentary) Don’t Look Back, I always wanted to live this kind of life — being interviewed in the back of a black taxi on the way to the studio.”
While most of their punk peers are content to traverse the globe in jukebox-style revue shows, Buzzcocks continue to move with the times, attracting new fans wherever they go. A case in point being the huge all-ages crowd the band pulled at the Iggy Pop-headlined Dog Day Afternoon in July.
“There’s not a lot of intellectual or emotional thinking in music these days,” observes Steve. “People are being controlled. They’ll watch a video of someone falling over a banana skin and think they’re being entertained. They don’t realise the beauty of words, and the power of music. I’d like to think young kids who come to see us feel the same excitement I got from Little Richard and Chuck Berry. It goes back to the punk thing. It was about attitude and a way of thinking. We had the questions, but we didn’t have the answers. But the questions are the important thing.”
This desire to challenge both themselves and their audiences was reflected in 2022’s Sonics In The Soul. An eclectic mix of gilt-edged power-pop (‘Venus Eyes’), Big Star-esque bangers (‘Nothingness World’) and Groundhogs-style riffing (‘Experimental Farm’), it was both a critical and commercial success — a reminder that Steve Diggle has always been a master songwriter: a Lennon to Pete Shelley’s McCartney.
The album also caught the ear of rock royalty. ‘Little’ Steven Van Zandt put in a request to remix Who-like epic ‘Manchester Rain,’ while Elton John got in touch with Steve to rave about first single ‘Senses Out Of Control,’ playing the track on his Apple Radio show.
“Sonics In The Soul was a bridge from the old Buzzcocks to the new,” says Steve.
“At the time, a lot of people said, ‘You can’t carry on without Pete.’ But I’d always written my own songs. Looking back, we were like two mountain climbers. We needed each other. But since then I’ve taken [the band] on and it made it more heroic.”
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