When Garry Bushell, then features editor at Sounds, coined the term “Oi!”, he gave us a punk subgenre that lives on to this day. Enthused, he then foisted the “humorous” Punk Pathetique movement onto a bemused world. It failed to take off outside the pages of his own magazine, but some of the bands were in for the long haul – most notably The Toy Dolls and Brighton nutters Peter & The Test Tube Babies.
Like the Dolls, the Test Tubes had nifty tunes and solid musicianship to back up the wacky lyrics – and both bands were particularly strong in the guitar department. They first appeared on vinyl with the brilliantly strange Elvis Is Dead, contributing it to the wonderful Brighton compilation Vaultage 78. That gave no hint, however, of the chaos that was to ensue when the band appeared on Oi! The Album in 1980, before signing to No Future the following year.
Fuelled by Merrydown Cider and with a cavalier attitude to “career choices”, the Test Tubes simply blundered on, turning out chucklesome but seriously good punk anthems such as Banned From The Pubs, Run Like Hell and Moped Lads along the way. The best of them are here.
