Cock Sparrer

The Albums 1978-1987 cherry red

Overdue retrospective of street-punk trailblazers.

East End oiks Cock Sparrer were as snottily tuneful as the Sex Pistols, more streetwise than Sham 69, and even signed a major-label deal with Decca in 1976. So how on earth did they fail to storm the chart barricades during the punk spring of 1977? It’s a question you keep asking yourself over the course of this four-CD, 53-track box set, which was overseen by guitarist Daryl Smith.

Their 1978 self-titled debut album (9/10) – originally released in Spain only – is a stone-cold classic, the combination of vocalist Colin McFaull’s cockney rasp and the band’s sledgehammer R&B suggestive of an aggro-centric Humble Pie. 1983’s Shock Treatment (7/10) is almost as good. Capturing the re-formed Sparrer in accusatory mood, McFaull calls out Joe Strummer and Jimmy Pursey (among others) in a rabble-rousing Where Are They Now?. Championed by the Oi movement, and consequently mired in controversy, latter releases Live And Loud (6/10) and a posthumous Running Riot In ’84 (6/10) still pack an almighty punch.

The Sparrer, of course, have had the last laugh. Having reunited in 1992, they’re acknowledged as an influence by everyone from Rancid to Dropkick Murphys.