10. The Only OnesEven Serpents Shine

They sound in the right place at the right time. If you write down Peter Perrett’s lyrics and pay too much attention to them, they’re awful. He sounds like any other junkie songwriter. [He got away with it] because he had this lovely voice. Even though it’s weak, it’s got this fragility to it which just works with his junkie whining.

[The New York Dolls’] Johnny Thunders could almost do that but not quite. ‘From Here to Eternity’ is just perfect. The lead guitar in that song is one of my favourites ever. And it’s all clichés, all strung together perfectly. I remember there was a Glasgow band who were doing quite well. They were working with this American producer and said: “We want a fresh cliché”. This is what this album sounds like to me. You can still feel the vitality in it, that kind of curious rock & roll thing that you can’t quite say what it is until you hear it. The Only Ones had that.