Sex. Pistols: Pretty Blatant

Rip It Up, Issue 7, 1 December 1977, Page 11

Sex. Pistols: Pretty Blatant

John Malloy

The Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols Virgin I could write a whole bloody essay on the Sex Pistols but I’d bore you all shitless. It’s all in the N.M.E. anyway. First of all, forget all the shit you’ve heard about them. They can play. No class. No subtlety. But they can play. And then there’s Johnny Rotten. It’s sort of irrelevant whether he can sing or not. He can deliver. Menacing? I'll say. Your mother won’t like him. The songs are ruthless, repetitive, politically naive, abusive, and brilliant. They're not about political reality. They’re about the way you feel.

I am an antichrist I am an anarchist Don’t know what I want but I know how to get it I wanna destroy ... They’re a challenge. Problems, problems The problem is you Whatcha gonna do? Listening to them is like listening to a circular saw. It stops hurting after a while. That's it. It's the most important record of 1977. It takes stamina to listen to it. Only the strong survive. Play it after school, after work. Play it before breakfast. Play it loud. If that don't get you kicked out of home, you’re living by yourself.