''Trade Test Transmissions'' is the fourth studio album by English

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...

band

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independe ...

. It was released on 2 June 1993 by record label Castle and was their first release in fourteen years, following up 1979's '' A Different Kind of Tension''. The music was quite different from their earlier material with nods to the power pop scene popular at the time.

Reception

''Trade Test Transmissions'' has been generally well received by critics. Jason Crock of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' was generally favourable, though writing "the album remains a strictly diehards-only affair." ''

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'' later qualified it as "a superb record which oddly got lost in the shuffle".

Track listing

All songs written and composed by

Pete Shelley Pete Shelley (born Peter Campbell McNeish; 17 April 1955 – 6 December 2018) was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He formed early punk band Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976, and became the lead singer and guitarist in 1977 wh ...

, except as noted.

Personnel

;Buzzcocks *

– guitar, vocals *

Steve Diggle Stephen E Diggle (born 7 May 1955) is an English guitarist and vocalist in the punk band Buzzcocks. Biography Early years Diggle was born on 7 May 1955 at Saint Mary's Hospital in Manchester, and grew up in the Bradford and Rusholme areas ...

– guitar, vocals *

Tony Barber Anthony Ferraro Louis Barber (born 28 March 1940) is a British Australian Gold Logie award-winning television game show host, radio announcer singer and media personality, who has been active in the industry since the early 1960s. Biography ...

– bass * Philip Barker – drums ;Technical * Ralph Ruppert - production *Ingo Vauk, Philip Bagenal - engineers *

Malcolm Garrett Malcolm Leslie Garrett (born 1956) is a British graphic designer, and Creative Director of Images&Co, a communications design consultancy based in London, UK. He is Ambassador for Manchester School of Art and co-founder of the annual Design Ma ...

- album design *Pete Towndrow - photography

References

External links

* 1993 albums Buzzcocks albums Caroline Records albums {{1990s-punk-album-stub