Revisiting a classic - Eater's The Album!

 

How do I describe the sound of punk rock? Some may mention the steady, simple and fast drum beats. Others may describe the power chords being played on fuzzy distorted guitars and perhaps trebly, tingy sounding bass forming the lead structure of the song. And then there's the vocals ripping off lyrics about… well anything that they can complain about.

If I were asked to describe a band that would best describe the vintage classic punk sound, I would choose the former London punk band called Eater.

Eater consisted of four young teenagers under the age of seventeen. The line-up for their sole full length album called The Album was Andy Blade on vocals and guitar, Brian Chevette on guitar, Ian Woodcock on bass, and Phil Rowland on drums.

The Album is filled with sixteen short songs including covers of songs by Lou Reed (Sweet Jane, Waiting for the Man), Alice Cooper (Eighteen.. except their version is titled fifteen) and David Bowie (Queen Bitch). The remaining songs are written primarily by band members Blade and Woodcock. Their fast, rough and aggressive punk rock formula stays steady throughout, so steady in fact that all songs basically sound the same. Song similarities would usually cause me to lose interest quickly, however, this is what I expect from these early young punk rock bands and for some odd reason it seems to work.  

In their short lifespan, from 1976 to 1979, Eater released five singles and one LP. They played with some fairly big names in the UK punk rock scene including The Buzzcocks and The Damned. While their immaturity (as if the word ‘mature’ ever got tossed around much in punk rock) may have contributed to their early demise, I’m sure that the constant bad reviews from the press didn’t help. Regardless, their impact on the London punk scene left a lasting impression. I frequent many websites and blogs run by punk rock fanatics and most (as do I) classify The Album as essential in any punk rock collection.

 

 

Below you will find the second song on The Album called Public Toys. Enjoy!