The Saints were to Australia what the Sex Pistols were to Britain, and
the Ramones to America. Picking up the germ planted by the defunct Stooges,
MC5, Velvet Underground, and New York Dolls, the Saints sparked the Far
East punk rock movement with a blasting, blistering, scorching sound no
one had heard before. Moreover, the Saints were blitzing the unsuspecting
in their home of Brisbane in 1973, long before the Sex Pistols or the
Ramones had even begun. Australians today hold the Saints in greater reverence
than any rock band in its history, save for the Easybeats. After their
incendiary, self-released debut 7" single "(I'm) Stranded"
b/w "No Time" blew minds of a raving British press on import
in 1976, subsequent sales of the single proved to the industry that the
upstart punk movement was in fact commercially viable. The Saints pocketed
a worldwide deal with EMI Australia, who rush-released "(I'm) Stranded"
in Australia and Britain (and in the U.S., on the heavyweight punk label
of the time, Sire records) to capitalize on the new trend. This first
LP was actually nothing but eight rough-and-raw demo tracks the band had
no intention of releasing, plus the two sides of the much better, cleaner-sounding
single. The heavy, buzzing racket on the eight demo tracks borders on
unintelligible, they're so cheaply recorded, but nothing can stop a collection
of cracklers this intense, with two absolutely astounding, blues-heavy
ballads thrown in for great balance -- "Messin' With the Kid"
and "Story of Love" drip with genuine, bratty soul. Of the hard-fast
tracks, even today's punk fans are amazed at the sheer tenacity and outright
fire of "Nights in Venice," "One Way Street," and
"Erotic Neurotic." Hear history burning.
(by Jack Rabid, All
Music Guide)
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