From Cleopatra Records, the label that gave you ‘Punk Floyd’, a punk tribute to Pink Floyd, comes ‘Punk Me Up: A Punk Tribute To The Rolling Stones’, a release that brings together many of the same bands, and applies a similar no-frills approach to the material in hand. The presence of the same names here strongly suggests that the material was likely recorded at the same sessions for the Floyd tribute and for the fans of some of those acts – Jah Wobble, Fear, Angry Samoans, Skids, et al – their return here will be welcome, since this is another release that potentially offers a couple of interesting collection fillers.

It doesn’t really offer much more than that, sadly. You’d think that given the punchy and direct nature of some of the Stones’ material – the driving riff that pumps the heart of ‘Start Me Up’, the distinctive punch of ‘Brown Sugar’, or even the relative raucousness of something like ‘The Last Time’ or ‘Get Off My Cloud’ – would make for a better punk tribute than the Floyd. However, “punking up” these classics, more often than not, merely offers the listener something that’s not especially tuneful.

A couple of the bands, presumably aiming for something unexpected, have opted to put their mark on some of the slower tunes. That creates an immediately jarring experience, and this is especially the case when the Skids rework the peerless ‘Wild Horses’ into a pogo-centric rocker that sounds like a cross between old Skids numbers and the noisier elements of U2’s ‘Boy’. Richard Jobson’s vocals are a force of nature, but he doesn’t really suit the song. The only real musical interest here comes from a sharp edged rhythm guitar and subsequent lead break, both of which appear to channel the ghost of the much-loved Stuart Adamson. As a Skids number, it would still be fairly average; as a take on ‘Wild Horses’, it’s pretty rough and ready, and likely the sort of thing you’d listen to once before moving on. Even more raw, ‘Angie’, when left in the sweaty hands of The Members, sounds like a bad pub band playing punk, whilst the lead vocal sing-speaks the familiar lyric at speed. An echo drenched lead guitar adds to the distortion via a really ugly solo, and this makes a bad track even worse. Again, it has the air of something tossed off, and if the band obviously doesn’t care, then why should the average fan?

The Vibrators’ ‘Satisfaction’ uses the same identikit approach and ends up sounding a bit rough, but is musically sound. Again, it’s a pity the vocals couldn’t be any better, and the same goes for Peter & The Test Tube Babies, who are tight enough when it comes to a riff, but aren’t capable of any more than old school football terrace shouting on their recording of ‘Mother’s Little Helper’. In fairness, if you’re into the second wave of British punk – and specifically the bands that were labelled “OI!”, this is great for what it is – it fits with the Babies’ general style well – but it’s hard to imagine a time you’d choose to listen to it over the Stones’ brilliantly dark rendition. A little more interesting, but not necessarily good, Fear lumber through ‘Honky Tonk Women’, taking on the mantle of a terrible bar band for the first verse, before switching gears for a mix of roots rock and punk that, musically, works well well enough, but is generally let down by a world of slurred “really couldn’t give a fuck” vocals. The sharp edged guitar playing is great in places, but really should have been applied to something far less disposable.

The Queers – one of the more melodically inclined acts within this set – play it safe by cranking the volume on ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ but leave everything else intact. This allows a great groove to work almost as well as the original cut; even the non-harmonious harmony vocals come across with a feeling of confidence, and a descending riff used in place of a guitar solo suggests a careening nature to the recording, but without resorting to a genuine sloppiness. Elsewhere, a collab between UK Subs and Dead Boys results in something else surprisingly safe when the musicians race through ‘Paint It Black’ at speed, applying volume without imagination, and Chrome mangle ‘Gimme Shelter’ into a synth drone fronted by a weird, warbling vocal that’s best avoided by anyone with sensitive ears. It’s horrible, but at least it isn’t merely workmanlike.

Along with Chrome, a couple of other acts should be singled out for really thinking more broadly. The Angry Samoans transform the white disco groove of ‘Miss You’ into a hardcore punk banger that sounds like an overspill from their own debut colliding with something from the Agnostic Front catalogue, and Jah Wobble takes ‘Start Me Up’ and recites the lyric as a spoken word recital over an arrangement that stays true to the original cut. It makes Wobble sound like a used car salesman, and is pure novelty. As such, it’s vaguely amusing on the first listen, a little embarrassing on the second and massively irritating at any point beyond that. The fact that this is used as one of the tribute’s flagship tunes should give an indication of how trashy it all is. And not always in the best way.

So, with a world of average or bad material, is there anything genuinely good here? Not much, but US hardcore merchants Reagan Youth are well worth an ear, since they turn the ultimate Stones by numbers rocker ‘Rocks Off’ into a guitar driven banger that actually sounds like the Dead Boys channelling Johnny Thunders. The drum sound is a little thin in places, but an overdriven guitar and perfect vocal sneer pull together to make this ‘Punk Me Up’s absolute highlight. Picking highlights from this ragbag of bits might not be difficult, but this is a genuinely great recording. The band have a vigour that seems to eluded more than half of the acts here, and despite not offering something as unique as Angry Samoans, they’ve at least created something that can be played time after time – and at volume, with every listen sounding as sharp as the first. Also half decent, the lesser known JFA adapt ‘Midnight Rambler’ to make it a distorted rock ‘n’ roller with punky overtones that would suit The Stooges. As you’d expect, that creates something relatively generic for 2024, but it sounds decent with a fair bit of volume applied, and the original arrangement’s change in pace is brilliantly overplayed for punky effect here.

There obviously isn’t enough good material here to recommend ‘Punk Me Up’, but you sort of have to hand it to Cleopatra Records for having the sheer balls to think this might work. Or better yet, hope that more than twelve less than picky punk fans might be genuinely interested. The JFA and Reagan Youth tracks are genuinely good, and Angry Samoans offer the world a curious novelty, but beyond that, this tribute will just make the listener want to reach for those much loved copies of ‘Sticky Fingers’ and ‘Exile On Main Street’ in record time.

July 2024