Evil Spirits – the latest leg on the voyage of The Damned. While being one of the earliest bands to exemplify the first-wave of Punk in ’76, they didn’t so much jump on the bandwagon as hijack it.

Stealing the march on the Sex Pistols by being the first to release a single, they were never quite the iconoclasts that some of their contemporaries aspired to be. Their form of anarchy was more akin to that of an unruly group of school-kids on a day trip. Despite the Punk poster-boy credentials, they always had a healthy love and respect for their musical forbears.

The latest album bears the marks of these influences, with dollops of psychedelia, rockabilly, blue-eyed soul, and plain honest-to-goodness rock. The temporary return of bass wiz Paul Gray makes for a perfect foil to Dave Vanian’s assured tenor and Captain Sensible’s underrated guitar chops. And not forgetting, of course, stalwarts Monty Oxymoron (keyboards) and Pinch (drums). It was all recorded over nine days in a determinedly old-school manner, Aided and abetted by the legendary – and I don’t use that term lightly – producer Tony Visconti.

First single ‘Standing On The Edge Of Tomorrow’ sets the tone with its optimistic vision of a new world, while ‘Sonar Deceit’ makes a plea for the plight of the dolphin. Yes, you read that right. Elsewhere, ‘The Daily Liar’ sounds like The Byrds with balls, and ‘Devil In Disguise’ splices The Stooges with Elvis so effortlessly, you can’t see the stitches. If it’s not a classic album, it sure sounds like one.
Rating: 8/10

Out now