Album Review: The Damned – The Rockfield Files

Is there more coming? Hopefully, I guess.

This review was originally published in The Kelowna Daily Courier under the title “Let’s review some metal albums“

The Rockfield Files is the latest EP by British punk band The Damned. Named for the studio in which it was recorded, the EP’s title should carry significant weight for fans of The Damned. Back in 1980, the band’s sessions at Rockfield produced the recordings that would eventually become The Black Album and Strawberries, The Damned’s well-regarded fourth and fifth albums, as well as their EP Friday 13^th. What’s more, Rockfield features three of the four band members who were at those initial sessions. What’s less, the EP isn’t fantastic.

Rockfield contains four tracks, and clocks in at just under twenty minutes. In that time, The Damned deliver some so-so tracks that would typically be classified as “filler” on any full-length album. Rockfield has some good hooks: “Keep ‘Em Alive” is pretty memorable, as is “Black Is the Night”. The EP also features some fantastic solos by guitarist Raymond “Captain Sensible” Burns, and keyboardist Monty Oxymoron.
Of course, it’s not surprising that a band that’s been around for over 40 years is talented. The songs are fun enough to listen to, but Rockfield is mostly background music that wouldn’t stand out among other radio rock.

The last Rockfield session apparently resulted in two albums and an EP. Hopefully this one has two albums coming now that we have the EP.

3/10