Cigarettes & Alcohol

The raw energy and defiant attitude of Cigarettes & Alcohol make it a powerfully resonant track. The lyrics, penned by Noel Gallagher, capture a sense of disillusionment, posing the question about the value of seeking employment when life seems to lack purpose. This outlook, reflecting a common apathy in the 1990s, was so impactful that Alan McGee, who discovered the band, went on to call it one of the most important social statements of the past twenty-five years. Musically, the song leans on a guitar riff many have compared to T. Rex's "Get It On (Bang a Gong)", adopting a sound that draws from glam rock. Music & Media magazine described it as a reflection of the band's attitude, likening them to Primal Scream in terms of their style.

This track, released on October 10, 1994, by Creation Records, was the fourth and final single from their debut album, Definitely Maybe. It reached number seven in the UK, remaining on the charts for eighty-two weeks between 1994 and 1998. A curiosity about its recording is that, although presented as a live performance at Glasgow Cathouse, the version we hear was recorded during soundcheck at the Gleneagles Hotel, in an empty ballroom without an audience, at ten in the morning. To give it the feel of an authentic tour recording, crowd noise taken from a Faces bootleg album was added. The song, which runs 4:48, is considered a twelve-bar blues rock piece, with a structure similar to other singles by the band but with a noticeably rougher, more distorted sound.