It’s unquestionably a coincidence, but “Red and Black” finds Spizz phrasing his verses in a manner that parallels that of Darby Crash from the Germs. It’d be stretch to imagine these Brits sitting down and listening to “Forming,” but who knows? Either way, the song sports a middling tempo, approximating the breakdown if a faster portion of the song existed. There’s mention of metallic dreams to go along with that dystopian synthesizer. But even without the supplemental support, Spizz seems enervated to the point that he’d be able to wrest the song from complacency all alone.
With that track aping something of a straight up rock thing, fans of weirder Brit punk might be itching for work matching the intensity of earlier groups. With its rolling bass line “European Heros” might be the closest thing to first wave punk that Athletic Spizz ’80 deals with. The song’s descending guitar line and Spizz’ quick spit verses make the song fly by – and in a good way.
There’s not too much a let down in this batch of songs. At times, the release date comes to bare. I mean, by 1980 there wasn’t too much left to do with punk. And while the boys try to craft something new with tracks like “Personimpersonator” it occasionally winds up being a horrible conflagration of the Jam and the Police.
Redeeming himself, Spizz leads his group through the eight minute close “Airships.” Yeah, the song sounds like it should be a prog-rock staple. But it’s not. Somewhere between the Buzzcocks and some latter day Rough Trade group, the band turns in something referential of krautrock and John Lydon’s Neu! worship without being dull and repetitive. That track might not be strong enough to make you speed on the freeway, but does serve as a pretty good way to end an album.