X-Ray Spex - Germ Free Adolescents [Expanded]

While the original ethos of punk rock was built around the notion that "anyone can play this stuff," that should have resulted in more aural diversity than many of the first wave of English bands bothered to display, but X-ray Spex were one of the few U.K. groups who had little interest in conforming to the sonic templates of The Ramones or The Sex Pistols. Dominated by the confident if monotonal wail of singer Poly Styrene and the saxophone riffs of Lora Logic (and later Rudi Thompson), X-ray Spex managed to suggest a poppy energy and youthful enthusiasm in their four-square thrashing, and rather than yelling about anarchy or the dole, Styrene's songs offered an often witty critique of consumer culture and the ways in which identity was sold as a commodity to folks on the street (especially young women), communicated with both intelligence and joyous enthusiasm. Read More