Although the Buzzards (originally the Leyton Buzzards, a British geography pun) appeared on the surface to be another London-area group of punk/reggae dilettantes, closer examination revealed them to be a subversive vehicle for Geoff Deane (vocals) and David Jaymes (bass). Comprising their entire recorded output, this seventeen-track retrospective is teeming with lively (if heavy-handed) potshots at everything from Pink Floyd (“No Dry Ice or Flying Pigs”) to modern mores (“Disco Romeo”) to punk rock itself (“We Make a Noise”). And be sure not to miss “Saturday Night Beneath the Plastic Palm Trees.” The tone throughout is cheerfully abusive; it’s fitting that two Monty Pythoners get thanked on the sleeve.
Following the doomed-to-oblivion Buzzards, Dean and Jaymes went on to major UK stardom in Modern Romance.