Boredom // Buzzcocks
When faced with the feat of finding the best guitar solos of all time, I doubt that many would turn to the realms of punk; instead, most music fans would opt for one of the many that can be found within the sizeable tones of classic rock. Yet for me, there’s one distinct solo that stands out, timeless, from the rest. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoYiQ8Qsozk&w=740&h=422] Located on the Buzzcocks’ brilliant debut record Spiral Scratch– widely regarded to be one of the earliest punk EPs to be released- is ‘Boredom’, a 3-minute whirlwind of raw noise and exasperated angst. The song boasts an incredibly unique climax; amongst the hurtling percussion and screeching lyrics of ennui, a guitar solo comprised almost entirely of 2 notes (repeated a grand total of 66 times) violently manifests itself, allowing the song to build into an almost literal sense of suffocating tedium. Immediately, this slight flirtation with a minimalistic sound proved that the early Buzzcocks lineup were destined for success. So, not quite Led Zeppelin. But despite its blatant simplicity, I’m not the only passionate fan of the unique music piece. In fact, post-punkers Orange Juice even included a perfect homage to the solo in their 1982 hit, ‘Rip It Up and Start Again’- something I take as proof of a pretty effective songwriting technique. Words by Emily Ingram [Feature compiled by Hannah Campbell]