Chelsea: No Escape

Chelsea: No Escape

1980

IRS Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. No Escape  2. Urban Kids  3. No Flowers For Him  4. Trouble Is The Day  5. Right To Work  6. Look At The Outside  7. What Would You Do  8. No One's Coming Outside  9. The Loner  10. Don't Get Me Wrong  11. Decide  12. Come On



 This album falls into the "Where Have You Been All My Life" category...It's exactly what I want to hear day and night...They were one of those bands that I'd always heard about but never actually listened to...Y'see, this band is where 3/4ths of Generation X (one of my faves) originated from, and for whatever reason I put them into the category of "early inconsequential band that spun off into a truly great band" (see the 101-ers for a 70's example or Slapstick for a 90's example)...But after I laid my ears on "No Escape" I possibly enjoy this...gulp...more than any Generation X album...

The first time I put this on I was bowled over at how great every single track was..."My God," I thought, "Any one of these tracks could be a hit single!" It turns out there was a pretty good explanation for that. This was just a collection of singles. The original UK release had a title ("Alternative Hits") that made this more clear, but since US audiences had no clue who Chelsea were anyway, this was just packaged as a regular album entitled "No Escape"...

And boy, if you have any taste whatsoever for 70's UK punk you need to check this out immediately...As delicate it as it is smashing, it reminds me of an especially arena-ready '77-style punk band...I guess the best way I can put it, is if you've ever wished the Clash released another album along the lines of "Give "em Enough Rope," then this album just might fill that void: Big singalong choruses, guitars that chug, slash and shimmy, melodies that stay stuck in your head for days on end...

 I'm still kicking myself for missing out on songs like "No Flowers For Him" "Don't Get Me Wrong" and "Trouble Is The Day" which I'm now listing among the all-time great punk tracks...And "Come On" is punk bubblegum worthy of the Ramones or the Vibrators. I've always considered Gen X to be critically overlooked, but if that's the case then the lack of accolades tossed at Chelsea is a downright crime against all that's decent and holy! Good God, man! If you see this in a used record bin, buy it fast! Before some other dude in a mohawk picks it up!

Waitsec! It's Friday! And not only Friday but it's the Friday before a three day weekend! Which means we actually get two Fridays! Or two Saturdays...Or two Sundays depending on how you want to look at it...Anyway you slice it, we get an extra night of drinking mucho beers and spinning many records and that's always cause for celebration! Let's cut all the small talk and get things started! 

Go grab a coldy and we'll listen to "Come On" by Chelsea...Happy Friday Number 1 everybody! Enjoy....