Fifty years after dropping their first UK punk single, The Damned still refuse to play by anyone’s rules. Not Like Everybody Else, their 13th studio album and first all-covers set, lands like a raucous wake for founding guitarist Brian James, who died in March 2025. Recorded in five frantic days at Revolver Studios in Los Angeles at the tail end of their 50th-anniversary tour, the 34-minute blast reunites original drummer Rat Scabies in the studio for the first time in four decades. Produced by Mikal Blue, it’s less a nostalgia trip than a love letter to the ’60s garage-psych records that made four London misfits pick up instruments in the first place—and a defiant middle finger to the idea that punk ever had to stay in its lane.

The band attack these songs with the same gleeful disrespect they showed in 1976, yet they rarely stomp the originals into oblivion. Dave Vanian’s velvet baritone and theatrical phrasing turn R. Dean Taylor’s “There’s a Ghost in My House” into a haunted-house party opener, all spike and spunk. Captain Sensible’s wiry guitar and Monty Oxymoron’s swirling keys give The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer in the City” a sweaty, Doors-tinged urgency that somehow feels more Los Angeles than Greenwich Village. The Creation’s “Making Time” gets cranked into near-metal territory with a choral hook that would make Pete Townshend grin. Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play” gains unexpected brio and darkness (a nice nod to Nick Mason producing the band’s second LP), while The Stooges’ “Gimme Danger” drips with Vanian’s goth-crooner menace.

Deeper cuts shine brightest. The Yardbirds’ “Heart Full of Soul” and The Lollipop Shoppe’s “You Must Be a Witch” keep the raw garage snarl, Eric Burdon’s “When I Was Young” gains weight from these veterans’ lived-in voices, and the title track—The Kinks’ “I’m Not Like Everybody Else”—feels like a mission statement. The closer is the gut-punch: a ragged, live-recorded “The Last Time” by the Rolling Stones, featuring Brian James’ final guitar performance from the Hammersmith Apollo in 2022. It’s raw, emotional, and perfectly imperfect.

Covers albums are usually contractual filler or cash-ins. This one is neither. Not Like Everybody Else is funny, furious, and strangely moving—a reminder that The Damned were never just punks; they were always crate-diggers with attitude. At a time when many legacy acts phone it in, these survivors sound like they’re still having the time of their lives. Essential listening for anyone who ever believed rock ’n’ roll should be dangerous, daft, and deeply personal.