After The Sex Pistols fell apart, Steve Jones and Paul Cook formed the Professionals. Following numerous singles, a single album, and the requisite drug problem, the Professionals followed the Pistols’ lead and fell apart. This is a collection of their best work, which marries the patented Jones/Cook metal/punk whomp that made the Pistols’ work so fuggin’ heavy to an almost working class sensibility. While lyrically not as incendiary as the Pistols’ limited output, they nonetheless maintained that ability to milk a hook for all it was worth and deliver it with enough power to blow a hole through the nearest wall. Of particular note are the songs “One, Two, Three,” which was recorded by San Francisco’s Avengers as “Second to None” at least a year or two prior to the Professionals’ version, and “Join the Professionals,” made famous by its inclusion in the classic “lost” punk film, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains.
–jimmy (Captain Oi)