Crossing the Red Sea with The Adverts

Robert.... Please, I beg you.... that's enough teenage British punk rock bands......

New wave |------X---| Punk

Just some solid 70s punk. It didn't blow me away, but I enjoyed listening to it a fair bit.

eh isso né. punkzim inglês dos anos 70. nada demais. mas eu gosto.
eh bem melhor que metade dos folk meia boca que passam por aqui. portanto, é decente demais, bem divertido!

Didn’t hate it. But the songs started to really blend together by the end.

Words like rap and punk cause automatic responses in these reviews that seem to make everyone gravitate to either love or hate this music and defend that review based on personal taste. This album is great example of something that belongs in the middle. It’s not great, it’s not terrible - it’s a fun, upbeat album of clean, stylized punk rock that is a good listen.

This one from the golden canon of the formative punk dynasty had honestly slipped past me before. Glad this list tipped me to it. I don’t quite (yet?) agree with Trouser Press and AllMusic that it stands on the same level as The Clash or Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols… maybe I just need to spend more time with it.

Yes, there are the undeniable bangers such as “Bored Teenagers,” “New Church,” and “Drowning Men.” On the first couple of listens, I’d say it also has a few potential skips that don’t really bring much to the table aside from being “good” punk tunes (“Newboys” and, oddly, the successful single “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes,” which was included on later editions but left off the initial release—which makes total sense to me, because it doesn’t quite fit the flow).

But overall, Crossing the Red Sea with The Adverts definitely has the same intense energy and addictive hooks as those debuts by The Clash and the Sex Pistols. What sets it apart is how it occasionally drifts into much eerier territory (such as the early standout “On the Roof,” as well as “New Day Dawns” and “On Wheels”), and that suits the album perfectly. At the apex of punk, already pointing toward the nihilistic post-punk era, but always just as things are about to tip over, The Adverts shift back into high-octane mode and deliver a killer chorus (“Safety in Numbers”).

One to behold - essential listening indeed.

Favorite track(s): One Chord Wonders, New Church, Bombsite Boy

Additional shoutout the single Gary Gilmore's Eyes.

Woop, 300 albums down! And I've got a good one to mark the occasion.

This is precisely my brand of punk - minimalist, yet playful instrumentation, slightly erratic, bass-centric, sneery without veering into theatrical levels of anger, and, of course, it has that relatable working class British DIY attitude to it. The production is crystal clear for the time without dulling any of the album's charm, and each crevice of Crossing The Red Sea is packed with catchy refrains and a dependable vigour.

This very much sounds like punk for the "thinking person", without wanting to come across as too pretentious, and the lyrics occupy more of an observational, self-deprecating and claustrophobic canvas. "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" in particular is a real highlight in how it taps into unconventional writing territory - it's not every day that you listen to a song exploring the perspective of a patient receiving a double eye transplant from an executed murderer.

This is pretty much all killer for me.

Season: True Summer
Favorite Song: New Church

Nothing all that memorable on this one. It was ok, for a so called punk band it was a little overproduced for my taste. It was more new wave sounding than punk, but I guess new wave gets lumped in with punk sometimes so who’s to say.

It's as good as any punk from this era I've heard. Second half of the album falls off but it started strong. 3/5.

Pretty good simple punk album. 4/5

They could obviously write a hook, but the Adverts are a bit like their namesake - good for grabbing your attention in short bursts, but after a while, you start to tune out.

Goddamn this is one of the greatest albums ive heard so far

Aside from The Clash I’m not much of an English punk fan.

I hadn't heard of the Adverts prior to today. This wasn't bad, per se, but there didn't seem to be much special about it. A high two.

Not bad for a punk rock album

Did I enjoy this? Yes
Shall it be remembered? Shall what be remembered?

It's alright