#354 X-Ray Spex, 'Germfree Adolescents' (1978)

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The first and last time I heard of X-Ray Spex was when lead vocalist, Poly Styrene passed away in 2011. X-Ray Spex only ever released 5 singles and 1 album. The short-lived band broke upsoon after the release of this album, with Poly Styrene leaving to record a solo album and join the Hare Krishna movement.

The album is high energy punk rock, a pre-cursor to the Riot Grrrl scene in the early 90’s. Songs such as lead single, ‘Oh Bondage, Up Yours!,’ giving the middle finger to men suppressing women “Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard/But I think "oh bondage, up yours!"” (sidenote: not included on the original release of the album, but it was on the re-issue). The band formed after Styrene saw the Sex Pistols live in Hastings. You can hear their influence in the sound, but X-Ray Spex have made it their own. My favourite track on the record was the title track.

#rs500albums