Magazine – No Thyself

Compelling

Howard Devoto always was a contrary one. When he was good, he was really very good – creating one of the definitive punk statements with Buzzcocks’ ‘Boredom’, and (arguably) inventing post punk with Magazine. But when he’s bad, he can be rather horrid. ‘No Thyself’ is Magazine’s first long player since 1981, and it sounds like they’ve spent the past thirty years locked in a room listening to third rate funk, eating M&S ready meals and reading mucky stories to each other. It’s not always pleasant, but in a funny way, it’s quite compelling – a portrait of the artists as dirty old men.

5/10

Words by BEN BRILL

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