By Jim Rowland
Aside from having four studio albums under their belt, Leeds pop-punkers Cyanide Pills have been prolific in the singles department since the release of their first single back in 2009. New album release ‘Singled Out’ collects them all together under one handy little roof, A-sides, B-sides and split releases alike. That’s a whopping 33 tracks in total to swallow.
At the core of the album are a plethora of quality punchy and catchy pop-punk tunes like ‘Break It Up’, ‘Up Against the Wall’ and ‘Apathy’ in the finest tradition of classic pioneers like Buzzcocks, Ramones, The Dickies and The Lurkers, but there’s plenty of minor stylistic diversions along the way.
There’s the rock edge of ‘Waiting (For You to Call Me)’, the power pop of ‘Hooked On You’, the quirky post-punk art-rock of ‘Diagnosis’, the dub reggae tinge of ‘Lock Up’ and the surf punk of ‘Hit It’ all proving these guys are more than one trick ponies.
Tracks like the Mott-esque ‘Where Did It Go?’ and ‘Government’, ‘Stick ‘Em Up’ and the stonking Glitter Band double whammy of ‘Just for You’ and ‘I’m Celebrating’ show Cyanide Pills can glam it up with the best of them too.
The album also includes a brand new single with ‘Amalia’ power poppin’ and ‘My Mind’s on Strike’ punk rockin’ it in fine style. Just to add to the confusion, there’s another 7” released at the same time, featuring an A and B-side that don’t appear here on this release.
‘Singled Out’ shows that Cyanide Pills have consistently knocked out quality well-written tunes throughout their career so far, and have amassed a body of work to be proud of, but clearly there’s plenty more in the tank yet.
- ‘Singled Out’ will be released on Friday (22 May).