By Monk
Shock Treatment were one of the original late-Seventies Good Vibrations era Belfast punk bands, picked up by Terri Hooley as one of the exemplars of a musical movement that defied the societal divisions of the time by bringing the city’s younger generation the empowerment of music. However, despite being hugely popular as a live act, they never quite cut it in the studio, releasing just three songs before splitting in the early ’80s – a move primarily prompted by lead singer Barry McIlheney leaving to pursue a career in journalism (going on to edit the legendary Smash Hits and Empire magazines).
Just over a decade ago, Shock Treatment re-emerged from the shadows, driven mostly by the determination of founder Davy McLarnon not to let the passion die, and appending the number 21 to their name quickly re-established themselves as one of Belfast’s most popular live acts, playing virtually anywhere an electricity supply (and their day jobs) would allow them… hell, they even managed to get around to recording and releasing their debut album… Turn the clock forward a further ten years and the band have turned something of a full circle with this, their second album, featuring McIlheney back on lead vocals.
And the album very much is a turning back of the clock as it kicks off with their ill-fated debut single ‘Belfast Telegraph’, an homage to the newspaper which usually was the first to deliver the shocking (sic) headlines about the latest atrocities when it was first recorded back in 1979, but which still retains a relevance in terms of its indictment of the tactics employed by most tabloids to grab attention to themselves if not the content.
This is followed by what ultimately turned out to be their first “proper” single, the still ebullient and effervescent ‘Big Check Shirts’ (and, yes, that is still the attire of choice of Belfast punx), which once again, alongside the likes of the slightly darker ‘She Will Have To Go’, ‘Got No Right’ and ‘This Must Be Love’ re-inforces the argument that this little corner of the Uberverse discovered pop punk long before the West Coast sk8trs claimed it for their own.
Every true punk band is embedded in the cityscape from which it emerged, and Shock Treatment evoke the dark aspects of their origins in their once (and still?) troubled birthplace, not just through the above mentioned debut single but also the darker vibe of ‘When The Whistle Blows’ and the rowdy ‘On The Line’; however, the brighter side of life in those dank back alleys and closed down city centre streets, and the sense of defiant optimism which pervaded the city’s punk scene is also reflected, both via ‘On The Line’ and the subsequent foot stomping, gang vocal anthem ‘Belfast City/Belfast Punk’.
Bringing their sound smack up date, the Treatments prove that ‘We’re Still Alive’ – yes, the kids were alright (sic), but the adults aren’t too bad either – before rounding out with a typically acerbic slice of Ulster humour on ‘You Can Change (DUPed Again)’, an apposite and emphatic swipe at the “same old. same old” roundabout of tribal politics. But, one thing you can’t change is the power of music when delivered from the heart, and I don’t need no shock treatment to keep this six decade old organ pumping, as least as long as the old guard are still gobbing in our faces with youthful venom… now, where are those photos I have of Baz and Davy in the shower? I might just sell them to the Belfast Telegraph! They’d have to be exclusive, of course…
- ‘Exclusive Photos‘ is out now.
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