aaamusic | On 09, Nov 2012

‘The Vermilion Border’ is the debut album by legendary The Slits guitarist Viv Albertine, and it comes 33 years after the debut album ‘Cut’ from that all-female Brit punk band.

It’s eleven tracks of drawling punk vocals, that Viv Albertine either sings in a faux feminine style or shouts with 60s venom, and rock’n’roll. The music is a strange mixture of oldschool punk, new wave and DIY garage-rock. There is a bit of pop, a bit of electro, some ska and lots of guitar driven rock.

Albertine chose to use a different bass guitarist on each track, and Mick Jones even pops up on ‘Confessions of a MILF’. The variety of styles and musicians may have led to this inconsistent and uneasy collection of songs, but more likely is the possibility that Albertine just wanted to make a collection of uneasy songs that jolted between genres and kept the listener’s ears pricked.

Viv Albertine’s vocals are not her strong point, and often verge on the unlistenable, but her songwriting and guitar skills remain compelling – especially on the darker tracks like ‘Hookup Girl’, ‘Uneasy’, and ‘The Madness of Clouds’. For fans of oldschool punk-rock….

★★★★★

Clive Rozario