Album Review: Flat-Pack Philosophy by Buzzcocks

The Buzzcocks have had difficulty living up to the formidable legacy of their past on the studio material they've released since reuniting in 1989, but in the early years of the 21st century they've finally learned to make new records that don't need to stand in the shadows of Singles Going Steady. The darker undertow of 2003's Buzzcocks set it apart from their previous albums, and though 2006's Flat-Pack Philosophy isn't haunted by the same degree of angst as that album, it reflects the same degree of increased maturity that informed Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle's material on that collection. While the Buzzcocks are still trying to figure out the nuts and bolts of love, "Reconciliation," "God, What Have I Done," and "I've Had Enough" speak of the stakes and responsibilities of grown-up relationships rather than the teenage frustration of their salad days, and the larger world has also become a subject of keener interest to them on numbers like "Sell You Everything" and "Credit.

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