Germfree Adolescents

Better than Coldplay

Amazing! I love when women make better music than men (exactly, all the time). The saxophone in this is great

Proof that punk was attitude more than music. At the heart of this are three minute pop songs. The use of sax sets them apart from the rest of the movement.
Overall a fun album.

(A great band to use in 6 degrees of separation given their later projects)

Catchy punk tunes with slightly off-key (but energetic) singing and somewhat amateurish sax playing - I want to say the sax sounds "flat" - not in an out-of-tune way, but just lacking energy, despite the speed of the playing. Supporting this impression, when I heard Identity I thought, "Hey, the sax sounds a lot better now!"...and then saw it was a different sax player. Still, the sax is a nice touch and the whole album has a ton of energy. Poly Styrene's singing style grew on me, even the occasional off-key moments, and she was clearly influential so credit where credit's due. Finally, I've got to imagine the live shows were a lot of fun. Favorite tracks: Warrior in the Woolworths, Let's Submerge, Germ Free Adolescents, The Day the World Turned Day-Glo.

2.64

X-Ray specs bring a great atmosphere. I particularly liked the extra melodic push provided by the saxophone, which was always welcome. Some songs are more punk than others but it’s certainly a nice counterbalance to the more celebrated punk acts of the era. There is a uniformly fun and exciting sound but I think it’s missing a couple of killer singles that push it into that next category for me.

On second listen - really good. And the sax is so nice. R LOVED hearing Warrior in Woolworths.

I was not super impressed for most of this, but the end really came together, very solid.

Einzigartige Mischung aus britischem Punk und Saxophon, mit kraftvoller Botschaft und der charismatischen Poly Styrene. Leider etwas eintönig und klanglich unausgewogen. Wichtig für die Punk-Geschichte, aber kein musikalisches Meisterwerk. Man sollte dem Werk eine zweite Chance geben.

What a fun album to listen to, punk at it's best. The horns make it sound like the band really had a blast putting this together. The album isn't really more than a collection of lots of their singles, but it doesn't really need to be. It's the perfect length with the 2 bonus tracks on streaming, I'll listen to it again for sure.

Love late 70s British punk and this one is great. The album artwork is fantastic. It's aggressive and raw in the best way possible. The incorporation of horns was unexpected but works incredibly well. Poly Styrene is an incredible front woman.

I had hear most of this record but not all at one. I mean, really, you had me at woman-fronted punk band. People seem to hate punk music for some reason, especially if you're reading some of the reviews on this site. I don't get why. The music is generally simple and repetitive, yes. But it's raw, it's emotional, and more often than not it has a lot to say. This is a great record that is all of those things. I get it if punk isn't for you, that's fine. I love this album. 5/5

'I wanna be dehydrated in a consumer society'; 'Sensationalism for the feed'; 'Scrub away, scrub away, scrub away.' Not only are Poly Styrene and the rest of 'em convincingly anti-capitalist, not only are they true punks w/ saxophonic suavity, not only do they foreshadow riot grrrl, not only does Poly exist somewhere between Patti Smith and David Johansen, tho in some ways, she outclasses both, as punks, X-Ray Spex understood the assignment: The Sex Pistols merely completed it. Their societal anxieties are well-founded, indeed are ahead of their time, but their songs never lag under the weight of didacticism. It's more prescient than a whole lot out there, but it's also far more fun, quirky, variegated, inventive, raucous.

Germfree Adolescents was a pretty fun album. I always am in the mood for a good fun punk album and this album seemed to scratch that itch pretty well. The main stars of the show on this album were the guitars and the saxophones which were what made the album as enjoyable as it is. There was also that classic 70s cheese in the vocals, lyrics and even some of the general melodies and i did enjoy all of that and i never found it too annoying. This album is a short one but thankfully, it's not a case as to where the album felt like it was going far too fast. I had a good time with this one and found it to be a worthy entry to this list.
Best Song: I Am a Poseur
Worst Song: I Can't Do Anything

Very good. This is such a great type of punk plus the saxophone!

Perfect response to the pomposity of Clapton

This is punk as fuck. And some of the best saxophone use in rock music.

Sorti en 1978, "Germfree Adolescents" est le premier et unique album de la formation originelle du groupe punk rock/new wave londonien X-Ray Spex.

"Germfree Adolescents" se distingue par une signature sonore immédiatement reconnaissable, fusionnant l'urgence brute du punk rock avec des sensibilités new wave et une instrumentation audacieuse. Des guitares incisives et nerveuses, souvent avec des riffs simples mais efficaces, le tout propulsé par une section rythmique solide et dynamique. L'élément le plus frappant et le plus commenté de la musique de X-Ray Spex est l'utilisation du saxophone qui n'est pas un simple ornement. Il est une voix à part entière, tissant des lignes mélodiques parfois dissonantes, parfois étonnamment accrocheuses, qui contrepointent ou renforcent les riffs de guitare et la voix de Poly Styrene et qui confère au groupe une texture unique dans le paysage punk, le rapprochant parfois d'une sensibilité plus pop ou même free jazz par moments, tout en conservant une agressivité typiquement punk.

Au centre de cet univers sonore se trouve la voix de Poly Styrene. Loin des canons esthétiques traditionnels, sa voix est puissante, stridente, parfois criarde, mais toujours chargée d'émotion et d'une conviction désarmante. Son style vocal distinctif, oscillant entre le chant scandé, le cri perçant et des lignes mélodiques plus affirmées, est l'outil parfait pour véhiculer l'urgence et la critique contenues dans ses paroles. Elle ne cherche pas à séduire par la douceur, mais à interpeller par la force et l'authenticité de son expression. Cette approche vocale non conventionnelle, combinée à son image anti-glamour (elle portait un appareil dentaire et des vêtements fluo criards), a fait d'elle une figure emblématique et profondément originale.

Au-delà de sa musique distinctive, "Germfree Adolescents" tire sa force de ses paroles incisives et thématiquement riches. Poly Styrene y déploie une critique virulente et souvent visionnaire de la société moderne, s'attaquant principalement au consumérisme naissant, à l'artificialité et à la construction de l'identité.

D'ailleurs, dès le premier morceau, "Art-I-Ficial", le ton est donné : "I know I'm artificial / But don't put the blame on me / I was reared with appliances / In a consumer society". La chanson critique la pression exercée sur les individus, en particulier les femmes, pour se conformer à des normes de beauté artificielles ("When I put on my makeup / The pretty little mask not me / That's the way a girl should be / In a consumer society") et dépeint un monde où tout devient produit, standardisé et déshumanisé ("I wanna be Instamatic / I wanna be a frozen pea").

L'album explore également la difficulté de forger et de maintenir une identité authentique dans une société qui pousse à la conformité. La chanson "Identity" est emblématique de ce thème. Inspirée par un incident réel où Poly Styrene a vu une jeune femme s'automutiler dans les toilettes du club The Roxy, la chanson dénonce la pression sociale et médiatique qui enferme les individus dans des stéréotypes ("Identity is the crisis, can't you see? / Identity! Identity!"). Elle met en lumière le désespoir engendré par l'incapacité à correspondre aux modèles imposés.

Bien que Poly Styrene ait parfois nuancé la portée féministe de ses textes, insistant sur une critique plus large du capitalisme et de l'esclavage sous toutes ses formes, "Germfree Adolescents" est traversé par une forte conscience des oppressions spécifiques vécues par les femmes.

À sa sortie en novembre 1978, l'album fut bien accueilli par la presse musicale britannique, bien que certaines réserves aient été exprimées. Elles ont reconnue unanimement les paroles géniales, les mélodies astucieuses, l'énergie et l'innocence savante et gagnante. Avec le recul, l'appréciation de "Germfree Adolescents" n'a fait que croître, le consacrant comme un pilier essentiel de l'histoire du punk.

Un 3 sur 5 pour un album précurseur du mouvement Riot Grrrl qui apparaitra au début des années 1990.

Yet another anglo punk album. It was ok, not sure worthy of "listening to before dying", like most entries in the list. Had some cool brass, but the female yelling thing is not for me.

I have no Idea what they're singing about most of the time but it sounds good. Really liked Plastic Bag.