Wednesday 14 September 2022

Protex - You Can Still Thrill Me

  


  "I used to lie awake at night thinking whatever happened to you..."

  When I wrote about SNAYX on here yesterday I mentioned that they were the type of fresh new band that's helping keep the punk genre healthy. There are plenty of older generation outfits still doing the same. One features today. 

  Protex (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063548294313) formed in Belfast in 1978 and wrote one of my favourite ever songs (I featured it on here back in 2014   https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2014/03/protex-dont-ring-me-up.html). They released a handful of killer singles, signed to Polydor and supported the likes of The Boomtown Rats & Adam And The Ants. They also toured the States and Canada before splitting in 1981. 

  They'd recorded an album for Polydor but it wasn't released until 2010 when New York label Sing Sing Records unearthed the tapes and put it out on vinyl under the title Strange Obsessions. This led to original members Aidan Murtagh and David McMaster reforming the band and they're still going strong.


 
  Their new album is called Wicked Ways and it's like they've never been away. It's a dozen 3 minute(ish) pop punk gems by a band that have always been compared to fellow countrymen The Undertones and who probably always will be. With a current line up of Aidan Murtagh (vocals/guitar), Norman Boyd (guitar/backing vocals), John Rossi (bass/backing vocals) & Gordie Walker (drums) they've perfected the knack of blending together pop punk and power pop. The album's available on vinyl and digital download : https://protexbelfast.bandcamp.com/album/wicked-ways

  Proving they've still got it, this is You Can Still Thrill Me...

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