Neuware • US • 2016 • HoZac / HoZac Archival

Proto Punk / Hard Rock / Glam / Killed By Death

3 Tracks; Limited to 500 copies.

Raw 1977 UK Hard Rock/Punk perfection.

UK punk in the late 1970s was a vast and impossibly diverse sea of groper, mopers and dopers, all desperate to clamp down on the raw nerves of a new generation full of anger and distrust, and when you look deep into the well, there’s so many incredible overlooked gems, most of which don’t quite fit the mold of what was to be soon homogenized for the public. Apart from the higher end of the UK punk food chain, there were countless imitators instantly, all unanimously clamouring for the attention of the new wave, and one little self-released 7" EP from a group hell-bent on shaking up the emerging genre confines known as CHARLIE 'UNGRY, was among that vast output. Band founders Jeff Gibbs and Tony Sando had done time previously in YELLOW BIRD, a glam rock band that released one sole single in 1974 and then fragmented upon it’s immediate dismissal by the rock press, but they had more ideas to flesh out and by the time 1976 rolled around they had assembled the new group with Andy Demetriou and Steve Protheroe, named after a fictitious scapegoat Jeff’s father always blamed any misdoings on, and this CHARLIE 'UNGRY was born.
Leveling off their enthusiasm for a wider variety of sounds than most of their contemporaries, the band grasped a serious metallic sound right out of the gate, as their signature song "Who Is My Killer?" rips through the speakers in a N.W.O.B.H.M. style that's undeniable. However, their glammy Slade-like rhythms and break-neck speed signaled a very punkish angle, reflecting the energy and nihilism of the exploding punk phenomenon, and their unique interplay between song styles, even mid-song as in "Who Is My Killer?" had an incredible effect, yet it was sadly underexposed. In retrospect, most truly innovative bands trying something new have had a cold response in general, par for the course in the case of CHARLIE 'UNGRY as well, with their incredible fusion of British metal guitar, pulse-pounding glam vocals, and white-knuckle punk rock delivery. Most simpletons just couldn’t get their heads wrapped around it.

Recommended If You Like: Slade, Cheap Trick, Status Quo, Plod, The Who, Budgie, N.W.O.B.H.M. fringe oddities

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