The Damned – Not Like Everybody Else Review

Three years on from what some could rightly assume would be their last album, The Damned appear to be going out with a bang. Whether their fiftieth anniversary show later this year is, indeed, the end as they claim it to be, is irrelevant to Not Like Everybody Else. Their latest album is of a similar occasion to Darkadelic, an album with such a contemporary spirit, but the benefit of being tied to a name which still holds weight. Their quality has not been diminished by their longevity, a rarity worth celebrating given how many others it has pulled apart. The Damned could, should they want to, coast off of their previous successes. But they’re driven by more than that with Not Like Everybody Else, an album that hears the veteran rockers live up to the title demand. They’re not like the others and want to show just why that’s the case. Not Like Everybody Else is unlike anything else The Damned’s peers can make.  

Part of that is because there are very few of The Damned’s peers still kicking about. But part of it, too, is the quality heard throughout Not Like Everybody Else. Crucial to this is hearing the band, quite simply, enjoy themselves in the studio. Opening track There’s a Ghost in My House has an incredible quality to it, a found in the studio decades after recording sort of feel. Everyone is in top form for this ten-track covers album, which pulls on some lesser-known songs, tracks by Pink Floyd and Dean Taylor which deserve more love. With The Damned’s spin on it, it’s hard not to fall in love with their versions of There’s a Ghost in My House and See Emily Play. Cover songs are a chance for an artist to let loose, but also to refine the instrumental talents they may have let slip when focusing on writing originals. It’s not the case for The Damned, but certainly worth keeping in mind as the group storms through a notable Summer in the City cover. Recognisable songs with that special twist from the veteran punk outfit, it’s a real treat.  

Instrumentally inspired is the word for a cover like Gimme Danger. What The Damned realise here is what many artists shy away from when it comes to cover work. There needs to be a tether to the original work but enough of an emotional overhaul to make the difference clear. Not Like Everybody Else is stuffed full of exceptional covers of songs from all-time great artists. A cover of See Emily Play is cleaned up of those somewhat dated and patchy psychedelic tones which make the original such an iconic song. The Damned has a version as good, if not a tad better, on their hands. A couple of great highs to be found within Not Like Everybody Else, that’s what keeps The Damned together here. David Vanian still has a sensational voice to him, and he puts it to great use on these covers.  

Covers or not, it doesn’t matter when it comes to The Damned. Their frenetic energy, the intensity they can still bring after so many decades in and out of the studio, is remarkable. Later album pieces like When I Was Young have a thrilling, reflective energy to them. Instrumentally magnificent, the smashing glass and dogs barking only add to the frenetic sense the band are such masters of, the release they provide. Borderline carnage but with the necessary steadiness. The Last Time is an on-the-nose bit which The Damned gets away with because they leave the door wide open. Maybe it is the last time we hear from the band, it certainly feels that way with what they’re advertising, but then it could just be a cover of The Rolling Stones that listeners will read into too deeply. The Damned does well to suggest neither is true.