Buzzcocks – Manchester Rain – Single Review

Buzzcocks

Manchester Rain

Single

Manchester Rain is the second single to be taken from Buzzcocks’ new album Sonics In The Soul. Blockheads lead singer Mike Bennett reviews the track for Louder Than War. 

Manchester Rain is the fantastic new single from the Buzzcocks. Steve Diggle has really kept the flag flying with the iconic sound of the group that has had so many incarnations from the Howard Devoto years through to the Pete Shelley years but of course Steve Diggle has been the linchpin throughout the different line-ups.

The single is punchy, punky and retains that classic Manchester sound. Most punk bands came and went in the classic year of 1977 but the Buzzcocks always kept going changing the sound as they went along, fleeting from speedy pop punk to the ground-breaking Spiral Scratch EP that was a noted benchmark recording in the punk and new wave era.

The hooky, infectious chorus has pop sensibilities but the chugging guitar and bass has a fantastic post-modernist punk sound that is very radio friendly. If this is an example of the album then bring it on, it’s infectious, catchy and has become an earworm that I simply can’t get out of my head.

Check it out it’s brilliant.

~

All words by Mike Bennett. Tune in to Mike’s Freak Party on Louder Than War Radio, Thursdays 7pm and Sundays 4pm.