This is a strangely embarrassing 7". I think part of me knew that at the time, but Diamonds and Guns was just so damn catchy that I had to buy into the whole thing the Transplants were doing. It felt fresh at the time - nu-metal had been around for a bit, so why not let punk take its turn with rap? Writing that in 2017 feels dirty, but at the time it was kinda acceptable. Maybe.
Diamonds and Guns is shamelessly catchy; it's like they weren’t even trying to hide how popular they wanted that song to be. The piano and the "woah woahs" from the off scream "huge MTV hit", which is not at all a surprise - for a punk band they were not worried about trying to reach the masses. I remember the video appearing on one of the music channels and it instantly being hugely popular and plastered all over MTV that spring. It's funny, because the first two verses are incredibly flat but, for me, it was always all about the half-rapped, half-shouted vocals that came in later. The b-side is another album track, Tall Cans in the Air, which benefits from the shouted/rapped vocals throughout and a much rockier chorus.
I bought this 7" a few days after buying their debut, self-titled album. It was £1, so it felt rude not to (I use that excuse a lot, but £1 is a very nice price to pay for music). Plus, I was still enjoying the single at the time and thought it'd be nice to have it on vinyl, albeit shitty picture disc vinyl. I don't remember being bothered that the b-side was an album track, although I'd only had the album a few days, so maybe I just didn't notice.
Musically, the band hasn't aged well, which isn't a surprise. I doubt even the most hardcore Rancid fans consider Transplants anything more than a piss-stain on history.
Format: 7", picture disc
Tracks: 2
Cost: £1 new
Bought: HMV Winchester
When: 07/04/03
Colour: Picture disc
Etching: none
mp3s: no
