The Cortinas

MK1     ***/5

Bristol Archive ARC 755 V LP

 

Engines turn-over once more for Bristol punks.Though they certainly couldn’t claim to have been a part of the upper echelons of the original surge of punk (their most significant moments being a support slot for The Stranglers at the Roxy in early ’77 at the

bequest of Hugh Cornwell and a memorable single in Fascist

Dictator), The Cortinas certainly did everything required of them.

 

Remembered for being the first punk band out of Bristol, they fired out a couple of 45s on the Step Forward label, both of which appear on this limited to 500 vinyl-only release, hammered their way through a Peel session, got their mugs firmly on the cover of Sniffin Glue and shot their bolt with a disappointing LP. All of which

was pretty much the form for most bands below punk’s premier division.

 

That said, this collection of 10 demos and all of their 7″ A and B sides crackles with three-chords so that, despite not really

marking them out as a band with an individual identity, it

demonstrates that, for a band “of their kind’, The Cortinas managed to hit all the targets and then some. Fourteen short

and sharp volleys – not the greatest punk outfit but definitely archetypal.

 

lan Abrahams

 

Edition 82 Record Collector

Tags: 1977 Punk Rock

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