Some bands will forever be associated with, and even trapped by, one single defining song. In the case of South London’s The Only Ones, it’s their star-surfing drug anthem Another Girl Another Planet which the All Music Guide called “the greatest rock single ever recorded”.
This timelessly magical one-off, where everything sits right and liftoff guaranteed after those first distinctive, stuttering chords, was the tip of a musical iceberg which went against the grain in the punk-dominated late 70s. The band were older and heavily influenced by psychedelia, from John Perry’s Jimi Hendrix-influenced guitar to Perrett’s doomed Syd Barrett twang.
