Damned - "Not Like Everybody Else" : their new release

     Dedicated to the memory of The Damned's founding guitarist Brian James, who died last March, this collection of covers was (mostly) recorded over five intense days at LA's Revolver Studios.

With drummer Rat Scabies joining Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible and Co. in the studio for the first time in decades, and James himself making a posthumous appearance on The Rolling Stones' The Last Time -captured during his final live performance with the legendary punk outfit at Hammersmith Apollo in 2022 - it's an emotionally charged business all round.

While that ought to earn the project some sentimental goodwill, it's disappointing to see the band fishing from such a limited musical gene pool, leaning heavily on beefed-up versions of late 6Os/early 70s British rock from the likes of The Yardbirds (Heart Full Of Soul), The Animals (When / Was Young), The Kinks [I'm Not Like Everybody Else), Pink Floyd (See Emily Play) and The Creation [Making Time).

To be fair, this high-voltage approach does bring a new energy, though it would be a stretch to call any of it punk. And if the alternative is Vanian growling his way through a makeover of Holland- Dozier-Holland's Motown classic There's A Ghost In My House, maybe staying in their lane is no bad thing.