“What Do I Get” (1977) – Buzzcocks * Written by Pete Shelley * 45: “What Do I Get” / “Oh Shit” * Produced by Martin Rushent * Label: United Artists * Charts: UK (#37)
Self-pitying shrapnel flung out from the British punk maelstrom of 1977. Inward woes come off as outward blows. Pete Shelley’s resigned vocal atop his band’s roar can strike a listener as mockery, true pain, or anger, all three of which make for therapeutic listening if you’re feeling shafted. Here were the early stirrings of Gen-X “get” consciousness, which were what the Buzzcocks were all about, and made them seem more of a band of the future than, say, the Clash, whose bigger-picture social concerns were the last gasps of a passé school of thought.