Germfree Adolescents

Yeah, I don’t love punk. It was fine as punk goes, I guess. I had to listen on YouTube because it’s not available on Apple Music, and that’s annoying because I hate commercials. Anyway, 2 stars is about right. I could be convinced to go to 2.5 is this thing had half stars.

Fun punk, feels like a slightly more rebellious version of the bangles.

Reminded me of how much I like early punk.

Riot girrrrl punk. Well executed, without being obviously different from their late 70s peers.

Lots of stuff I love here a lot. And I listened to the expanded CD that has the absolute banger "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!"

Possibly the best of the female led punk groups from the 70s.

For a punk album, it's pretty damn good. The female vocals and the saxofone make it different from other ones.

Some fun punk. Some of the songs felt familiar, but I wasn't sure if I had actually heard them before.

I found this slightly annoying. And as with other punk records I’m sure it was so cool at the time but just feels dated now. Pretty good songwriting in general though. ‘Identity’ in particular is a great song. I also appreciate the use of saxophone throughout.

Catchy songs. Terrible voice

3 ⭐️

1st generation UK punk that has a real "bunch of kids fucking around having a good time making some noise together" feel to it. There’re the basic guitar/bass/drum punk chugga chugga boom riffs but on top you have wild sax and harmonized guitar parts taking turns playing big hooks over/inbetween Poly Styrene’s distinctive singing: forceful and nasal and charismatic in its "who cares if I’m on key, I’m here to rock" energy - the OG brat. Some great lines: “my mind is like a plastic bag, it sucks up all the rubbish fed in through my ear!”. A punk circus.

Great for their time. Less saxophone would've been nice, but fits the period.

Germfree Adolescents is a five star masterpiece, fuck whatever you're saying. Poly Styrene’s sharp critiques of consumerism, her incredible vocals, and the genius inclusion of saxophone create a vibrant, boundary-pushing punk record. While the raw, lo-fi production may be an acquired taste, the sheer originality and electrifying energy make this an essential listen.

This album was not for me. It was general punk pop but not very interesting or engaging at all.

Great album cover though!

Classic!!!

wtf is that voice

Fire! I know the name but I'm not sure I've ever listened to them before and I definitely regret it. Female-fronted punk is always amazing. This is super fun. I love the sax too.

It takes some getting used to her voice, and in turn I could see listening to the songs on this album out of context from each other could lead to annoyance, but once I got over that hurdle, this was a pretty good punk album. It feels just pop enough for its anti-establishment attitude to feel a tad tongue and cheek, something the album refers to a decent amount of time, and the variation on the genre, not only with a female lead vocalist in a male-dominated genre, but also with the inclusion of new wave elements a year before The Clash made that a standard in London Calling, and saxophone playing to make it stand out instrumentally as well. It doesn't even suffer from the repetitive tone issues that plague many a punk album, having enough speed-up and slowdown to feel like there was actually some thought put behind it all. It can still fall into that grating sound at times, and I'll admit I don't remember a great deal about the record when it comes to specifics, but as a whole I'm glad I enjoyed this pretty solidly, and perhaps this means I should start exploring the feminine side of the punk movement, because so far it seems a lot more honest, and therefore, good, in my eyes.

One in many proto punk albums that I am sure was far more groundbreaking at the time, but just falls a bit flat today. 2/5

Interesting female punk album, not one I immediately connected with but grew after a few listens.

This is the kind of punk I like. Spirited energetic vocals, and the sax adds a lot of texture to it. Fun!