Cosmic Psychos - Blokes You Can Trust

Label: Amphetamine Reptile

Year: 1991

So I'll make this one pretty quick, just cause, I don't know, just cause.

Cosmic Psychos are one of those Amphetamine Reptile bands who flew under the radar, and never achieved the kind of notoriety that the noise rock, or art punk bands on the label managed. Maybe because they were pretty straight up by that scene's standards. Musically, it's punk music as played by a rock-n-roll band, so you get a liberal dose of wah pedal, and some classic rock wankery, but ultimately it's punk rock music in the old style with enough dirt under the fingernails to raise the attention of your Subpop and Amphetamine Reptile record labels. Not unlike a band like Fluid you know? They called themselves "yob rock"which I believe to mean, blue collar, common man rock that speaks to issues if a day at the pub, and concerns scant little else beyond that. Of course, unlike Cosmic Psychos, I am not from Australia, so you probably shouldn't look to me for a treatise on yob rock, or what it takes to be a yob rocker.

I imagine people in 1991 felt this band was sort of "retro" the same way people in 2008 feel a band like The Bronx is "retro". Make sense? Well, do you like punk rock with emphasis on the rock? Yeah? You'll like this then.

DL