72. Gel - "Only Constant"

The shortest album on this year’s list by a country mile. At 16 minutes it’s probably the shortest album to ever feature in one of my lists. There are other entries that are still in the early throes of their first track in the time it takes for this record to dispense with all 10 of its constituent parts. There are plenty of EPs released this year double or even triple the length that I refused to give entry to because “the list is for full-length records only”.  

I love this record though because it reminds me of why I love punk. It felt cleansing to listen to a band play proper in your face, narcissistic, corrosive punk. It reminded me of discovering Fugazi all those years ago. It reminded me of why punk is such a life force and such a necessary disruptive influence.

“Only Constant” reclaims punk from all those poses and Fairweather types who believe that Green Day, Offspring and Blink blooming 182 are in any way punk. It drags it back from ill fitting stadiums to its spiritual home of dingy New York clubs.

As you would expect from its fleeting duration this is an incredibly minimal album that only uses the scant resources necessary to put across his message. Short, sharp and straight to the point it is taking me longer to write about it than it took to listen to.