The X-Ray Spex
Singer is revealed as a mystic, rebellious working-class woman of colour in this valuable film
The siren-wail of Poly Styrene’s voice was the authentic sound of punk: derisive, subversive, yearning and romantic. No one could have been less of a cliche. This riveting and valuable documentary is co-directed by Paul Sng and the musician’s daughter Celeste Bell, and evidently structured in a similar way to Bell’s book, Dayglo: The Poly Styrene Story, published last September. Hearing X-Ray Spex again is a madeleine and an intense pleasure.