The Nips - Cambridge Corn Exchange Source: NME Date: June 17, 1978 Author: Stephen Gordon Copywrite: © NME 1978 Raw Records First Anniversary Cambridge Corn Exchange . . . The Nipple Erectors (horribly contrived name) were a surprise. From what I'd read about them I expected some kind of third-rate punk band with Ted pretensions. It took just one number to shatter my preconceptions. "Fuss And Bovver" captures most of what's good about the Erectors: hard, fast, tight to the point of suffocation and instantly memorable. They sound like nothing so much as "Stranded"-era Saints, and rock out harder than a chisel on concrete. Shane, who handles vocals, does have a totally over-the-top Ted persona, all sneers and exaggerated Cockney accent. He curls his top lip and chews gum, doing his best to look mean and bored. The others aren't quite as concerned with visuals, and compensate with musical firepower: Shanne, standing stock still with her bass and looking almost removed; Roger, a three-chord archetype in the J. Ramone tradition (i.e. it works); and Jerry on drums, facial expression one of manic intensity as he batters his kit several feet into the stage. They have lots of good numbers, the best of which is "Maida Ada", a frantic rhumba for which Shane joined forces with a pair of furious maraccas. Halfway into 1978 it takes a great deal of panache to play a set that sticks rigidly to the conventions of '76/'77 emergent punk. Fortunately the Erectors have that panache. . . .