Don’t you just love the name…We’ve got a Fuzzbox and we’re gonna use it? Well, it was what Maggie shouted the day she bought her distortion pedal, or at least that’s what the legend says.
And they certainly used it, their debutsingle was the base for many other “fuzz”-bands like early Primitives or later the Darling Buds.
It was the perfect combination of cheap commercial stuff made with a punk attitude. Just listen to “XX Sex” and you know what I mean, the short perfect poptune.
As the single got N°41 in the charts, the interest of the majors came and WEA gave them the opportunity to record their debutalbum “Bostin’ Steve Austin”. In fact, it already was a bit too late for the Birmingham-based quartet as even if the album is a gem of a nice commercial indiepunkpop only “Love is the slug” became a minor hit.
It’s difficult to say why then Fuzzbox were never taken seriously but if you’re listening to their music now, you’ll be aware of how innovative they were.
The album is over in 30 minutes and all you get are brilliant 3 minute punksongs that are both sexy as hell and enriched with nice guitars, and not forgetting…of course…the fuzzbox!
Later followed the album “Big Bang” but it was only the name that stayed because the sound they made in 1989 was far away from the stuff that was once be loved by Mr John Peel (“Rules and regulations” made the Festive 50 in 1986).
If you have difficulties finding this album, it was released by Cherry Red with additional tracks.
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