Whatever Lydon does in the future - or has done
in the last 10 years, "Bollocks" and "Metal Box"
can stand as hugely influential albums.
His grating vocals and abstract, doom laden
lyrics set the scene for the jagged Kraut-rock
rhythms, dub bass lines, droning keyboards
and Keith Levene's twisted, spiraling, harsh
brittle guitar work. Was this the first comprehensive
album to herald post-punk?
I remember interviews with them saying that they
recorded late at night, speeding off their tits and
just trying anything that did not sound like "rock".
All the songs have a minimal production which build
up the tension with a feeling of claustrophobic
suffocation that the repeated riff lines help to produce.
Jah Wobble weaves his bass lines in and out with the
guitar and the resulting songs are ahead of anything
I had heard before.
I got the Metal Box which contained 3 "12 records
which were a real fucker to get out without snapping
them in half. How proud I was with my shiny collectors
item sitting proudly with my other records. I am less
proud 32 years later now that my once-oh-so-shiny
tin is now covered with some sort of rust that marks
anything it touches! How proud PIL must be of that fact!
Bastards............ now enter a world of brilliance.
If you want to see someone using the tin as a cookie mould - Watch
