THE VIBRATORS | PURE MANIA

THE VIBRATORS | PURE MANIA 

Part of the idea behind punk rock was that anyone could play it, but while most folks took that to mean the young and inexperienced could pick up a guitar and bash out two or three chords, the concept worked the other way, too. The Vibrators were one of the early bands to break out on the London punk rock scene and created one of the first classic albums to come out of U.K. punk. But as much as they tried to look like kids off the streets, their leader was anything but. Guitarist and singer Knox (aka Ian Carnochan) was the ripe old age of 31 when he launched the Vibrators, and he'd been playing in bands since his mid-teens. But if Knox was a bit long in the tooth to be part of the youth vanguard, he was also in it for the long haul, and he kept the Vibrators alive and productive throughout dozens of lineup changes well into the 21st century. 1977's Pure Mania was their debut and acknowledged masterpiece, 2009's Under the Radar is a strong latter-day effort, and The BBC Punk Sessions, issued in 2000, preserves several live-in-the-studio performances cut for British radio in 1977 and 1978.