Reviews

Vanilla Muffins The Drug is Football LP reissue

VANILLA MUFFINS refer to their brand of upbeat punk as “Sugar Oi!,” drawing from SHAM 69 and the RAMONES in equal measure. On Puke N Vomit’s reissue of their beloved 2003 LP The Drug is Football, you can nearly taste the sweetness. Opener “Brigade Loco” is a love letter to punks in Spain with a catchy sing-along chorus and guitars à la COCK SPARRER, “Pride of the North” is three minutes of perfect pop punk probably worth the price of admission alone, and “Viva El Fulham” is all BUZZCOCKS and the JAM riffs. By the time they reach their take on WALL OF VOODOO’s “Mexican Radio,” they have covered just about every ’70s punk benchmark I can think of. Great, catchy football-worship for anyone with a sweet tooth.