Exclusive: Steve Diggle Talks New Buzzcocks Album

The latest in a fresh line of full-lengths since the band reunited over a decade and a half ago, Flat-Pack Philosophy hits U.S. stores on March 7 (a day earlier in the UK). The Buzzcocks' eighth studio LP will be released by Cooking Vinyl, and is the follow-up to their acclaimed 2003 self-titled album on U.S. indie touchstone Merge Records.

Pitchfork recently caught up with founding Buzzcock Steve Diggle, who spoke at length about what longtime fans can expect with the band's upcoming release.

"There's a lot of vibe and energy in this new album," Diggle said. "That's what people seem to be saying to me. There's a lot of classic hallmarks of the Buzzcocks style taken through to the modern age. We're rocking better than ever at the moment."

Flat-Pack's first single, "Wish I Never Loved You" will be issued February 20, backed by the b-sides "Don't Matter What You Say" and "Orion". The title track is currently streaming on the band's MySpace page (in case you're in need of musical salvation on your next dateless Saturday night). The album's full tracklist is as follows, punks.

Buzz cuts:

01 Flat-Pack Philosophy
02 Wish I Never Loved You
03 Sell You Everything
04 Reconciliation
05 I Don't Exist
06 Soul Survivor
07 God, What Have I Done
08 Credit
09 Big Brother Wheels
10 Dreamin'
11 Sound of a Gun
12 Look at You Now
13 I've Had Enough
14 Between Heaven and Hell

When asked if Flat-Pack Philosophy has any overriding themes laced throughout its brisk running time (32 minutes), Diggle offered, "It's still got a youthful optimism, but it has got experience to it. William Blake did two big sets of poems, 'Songs of Innocence,' and 'Songs of Experience,' and these are our songs of experience. I mean, if you listen to our lyrics, there's a lot more wisdom than the Green Day kids are writing about, you know?!" Them's fightin' words!

Diggle continued, "There's a lot of substance and depth to this stuff, and every one of them's a catchy, poppy song. There's not really any fillers on there. There's a dark one, 'Heaven and Hell', which has got a little bit of a religious, moral thing to it. And 'Big Brother Wheels', that's one of my favorites. I'm rooting for that to be the next single. I'm sure that will be a hit!" An 18-date March tour of the UK was recently announced, and Diggle alluded to the possibility of upcoming U.S. dates. The news so far:

03-03 Bristol, England - Academy *#
03-04 Pontypridd, Wales - Arts Centre *#
03-05 Oxford, England - The Zodiac *#
03-07 Brighton, England - Concorde II *#
03-08 Reading, England - Fez *#
03-09 London, England - KoKo *#
03-11 Birmingham, England - Academy II *#
03-12 Cambridge, England - The Junction #
03-13 Norwich, England - Waterfront *#
03-14 Nottingham, England - Rock City #
03-16 Sheffield, England - Leadmill #
03-17 Stoke, England - Sugarmill #
03-18 Manchester, England - Academy II #
03-19 Leeds, England - Cockpit #
03-21 Aberdeen, Scotland - Lemon Tree #
03-22 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC #
03-23 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Empire Theatre #
03-24 Dublin, Ireland - The Village #

* with the Adored
# with Gear

And finally, the Buzzcocks concert DVD Live at Shepherds Bush Empire 2003 will finally debut in the U.S., hitting stores today, January 24. The disc features the band's full 32-song set from their April 27, 2003 performance at the landmark London venue, running over 200 minutes. It includes such bonus features as Australian tour footage, sound check footage, and a tour photo gallery. The package is presented in Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and the full concert setlist, in Analog 2D Web Font, looks like this:

01 Boredom
02 Fast Cars
03 I Don't Mind
04 Love Battery
05 Autonomy
06 Oh Shit
07 Harmony in My Head
08 Jerk
09 Love You More
10 Breakdown
11 Something's Gone Wrong Again
12 Sitting Around at Home
13 Wake Up Call
14 Get on Our Own
15 Driving You Insane
16 Keep On
17 Mad Mad Judy
18 Totally From the Heart
19 Friends
20 Lester Sands (Drop in the Ocean)
21 Noise Annoys
22 I Believe
23 You Know You Can't Help It
24 What Do I Get
25 Times Up
26 I Don't Know What to Do With My Life
27 16
28 Why She's a Girl From the Chain Store
29 You Say You Don't Love Me
30 Promises
31 Orgasm Addict
32 Ever Fallen in Love With Someone (You Shouldn't Have Fallen in Love With)

The Buzzcocks: http://www.buzzcocks.com/
Cooking Vinyl: http://www.cookingvinyl.com/