Cycledelic

Description

Yes its an official repressing of the debut album Cycledelic from JOHNNY MOPED following on from their new album Its A Real Cool Baby which came out earlier in the year to critical acclaim. Cycledelic was originally released in April 1978. Described by Jon Savage in his book Englands Dreaming as certainly one of the more curious albums to emerge from the first wave of UK punk. He went on Cycledelic, is the lone full length album from Johnny Moped (which in the grand tradition of Alice Cooper was the name of both the band and its lead singer). Moped was a clumsy singer even by the standards of early British punk, given to moaning and gurgling when he couldnt think of something to say, and guitarist Slimy Toad had chops and wasnt afraid to show them, so some of the longer songs like Maniac and 3D Time veer off into what sounds like a thugs version of prog rock. And even when the band did tear into something short, fast, and loud, they sounded like 60s pop gone mad on speed; Cycledelic may be one of the only albums from punks first wave that displays almost no audible Ramones influence. But if the Mopeds were following a path all their own, they were clearly having a lot of fun doing it; the falsetto piss-take of Chuck Berrys Little Queenie serves as parody and tribute at once, Darling, Lets Have Another Baby is a wicked send-up of UK pop at its most insipid, and Hell Razor, Wild Breed, and Make Trouble thrash about with glorious abandon. And in 1978, there was no a better count-off on record than Incendiary Devices One! Two! Cut your hair!!! Johnny Moped was a little too odd to serve as a true Everykid, but the absurd brilliance of the best moments on Cycledelic are a shining example of the punk credo that anyone could do it and that sometimes amazing things could emerge from unexpected places. Not all of the best punk-era bands were recorded, but through the farsightedness of Chiswick Records, Johnny Moped happily were. Thirty eight years (YES!) on, Cycledelic wears its dumb brilliance well. Its also Captain Sensibles favourite album, which cant be bad!