COOKIE CUTS

Three volleys from a Pistol’s batterie, saluted by Pat Gilbert.

THE PUNK PINNACLE

Sex Pistols

★★★★★

Never Mind The Bollocks… Here’s The Sex Pistols

(VIRGIN, 1977)

Bollocks’ high-gloss sheen and aural clarity – courtesy of Wessex Studios producers Chris Thomas and Bill Price – accentuated everything that had made the Pistols so inspirational in the first place, including Cook’s drums, both juicily thuggish and intuitively sensitive to each track’s mood and gearchanges. Marvel at the bounce in Pretty Vacant’s tribal intro beat, Bodies’ metronomic pummelling, New York’s crash-y, syncopated fills. The boy’s a natural.

THE INDIE TRIUMPH

Edwyn Collins

★★★★

Gorgeous George

(SETANTA, 1994)

OK, Gorgeous George’s breakthrough smash A Girl Like You saw Cook playing along to a sample of Len Barry’s swinging Northern Soul staple 1-2-3, but elsewhere the ex-Pistol showcased hitherto untested techniques – spatial Floyd-esque beats on The Campaign For Real Rock, jazzy rim-shots on the title track, a brisk country metre on Make Me Feel Again. Collins could boast a real-life Pistol in his holster and Cook a long-overdue shot at reinvention.

THE BALLSY BOUNCE-BACK

The Professionals

★★★

What In The World

(AUTOMATON, 2017)

Who knew Cookie could write a stirring chord-change or 10? This debut from the millennial resuscitation of the drummer’s post-Pistols unit featured Paul and new singer-guitarist Tom Spencer setting off an album’s worth of rock fireworks, with guests Steve Jones, Billy Duffy, Duff McKagan, Mick Jones et al dialling their amps to 11. No Pistols fan would feel short-changed by Good Man Down, Going Going Gone or Take Me Down.