The Disrupters – Generation Retard

It seems only fitting that Norwich’s Disrupters would wait for a Tory government to return before releasing a new album: it’s what punk’s all about, innit? 25 years since their last recordings, it’s the brash, obnoxious voice of 80s punk, but now there’s a new war to fight. The Royals, Islamic extremists, even Anne Widdecombe, all get a verbal working over by Steve Hansell in pursuit of the ideal target.

Opening with a quote from the Quran, they aren’t shy in making their point heard but the main issue with Generation Retard is that it could have been made in half the time. Even if the razor-edged guitars and Hansell’s sneering intonation give this all the hallmarks of a great modern punk album, the impact they have would be all the more visceral if they’d made efforts to shave off some of the fat on these otherwise involving working-class anthems.