The truth about Glen Matlock's continued existence and any music he might make is as simple as it is unfortunate; no matter what he might do in his life, he'll always be the guy who was bounced out of the Sex Pistols (for liking The Beatles – as the story was at the time), was replaced by Sid Vicious and was then asked to rejoin the band when it reformed first for the Filthy Lucre Live tour in 1996, and then again when the Pistols became a Vegas sideshow in recent years. Forget that some of the best Pistols songs bear his name in the writing credits, forget that he's a pretty good multi-instrumentalist in his own right; in the minds of many, Matlock will forever be the guy who was fired in favor of a trainwreck and then became a shill in his Forties – nothing more than that. To be painfully honest too, Born Running doesn't nothing to break that image either. It's a good album, but not so good or so big that it will be able to topple the monolithic Sex Pistols mythos.
The Sex Pistols' legacy may be un-phased by Born Running, but it doesn't actively try to change it either. Rather (and this is really how it should be), the Pistols aren't even in the periphery of this album; Born Running stands proudly, unaffected by history and begs to be judged on its' own merits alone. While it might not be strong enough to topple the Pistols, it's strong enough to do that.
Born Running launches out of the gate front-loaded with its' title track which instantly sets “anti-punk” stance of the record. More power-pop than anything, the song forcibly (but without cliche) stands on its' own, apart from any other music that has borne Matlock's name previously and just runs its' own race; the band single-mindedly plays for the song and nothing else. The focus here is on craft and performance and it's hard to not want to cheer when the song both slams itself and the book of bullshit surrounding Matlock for thirty years closed.
In a word, “Born Running” is very reaffirming.
The album isn't a one-trick pony either. Without bothering to look back, Matlock and his Phillistines press on eleven more times through the duration of Born Running with surprisingly solid results. Through songs including “T.R.O.U.B.L.E.,” “Nowheresville,” “Rock Chick,” “Something Tells Me” and “Yeah Right!,” the band doesn't take the easy way out and start casting stones at old targets (i.e. No picking on the Pistols here) and focuses on just writing good rock songs – not topical or incendiary ones. It's actually refreshing to see a former member of the most over-exposed punk band of all time not stand on that name, for once, and Matlock proves he can do it genuinely here, without relying on novelties or cheap thrills to do it.
Now, as stated, there's no chance that Born Running will spontaneously recast Glen Matlock in a new light for the first time in thirty years but, to his credit, the bassist doesn't pay that fact any mind on Born Running – he just does his own thing and does it well here. He pays the shadow of the Sex Pistols no attention at all and, in doing so, only remains within it in the minds of those who choose to look at it that way; Born Running is a solid rock record that doesn't pay attention to the past.
Artist:
www.thephilistinesuk.com/
www.myspace.com/glenmatlockandthephilisti
Album:
Born Running is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
