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Doesn't it just feel counterintuitive that a punk band could be touring in celebration of the 40th anniversary of its debut album?

Punk bands aren't supposed to be around to celebrate 40th anniversaries! Punk bands are young, snotty dudes full of piss and vinegar, sneering at the man in chaotic, discordant, 2 ½-minute, three-chord anthems, then gloriously burning out long before they get a chance to fade away!

Right?

The Damned were the first UK punk band to release a single ("New Rose" in 1976), to release an album ("Damned Damned Damned" in '77) and to tour the United States. But while singer Dave Vanian concedes it's perhaps a surprise that The Damned are still going, he maintains it's not because punk rock has anything to do with it.

"Well, you certainly don't expect to be in the same band that length of time, do you? At the time, it could have ended a couple of months later. And nearly did as well. … But we didn't stop, we just went on," Vanian said in a phone interview. "When [the band] started, punk didn't exist, it hadn't happened yet, and we were just basically a band — in the same vein as bands from America like the MC5 or The Stooges, those great '60s garage bands. They didn't think about that kind of thing, they just thought about the music ahead of them. It wasn't designed to be something, it just had a natural life of its own."

And so that "natural life" has yielded a 40th anniversary tour, which will include a stop at The Depot in Salt Lake City this coming Tuesday, April 18.

Of course, part of a natural life also includes growing old, and the now-60-year-old Vanian is hardly sneering at Father Time these days. Nevertheless, even if The Damned have slowed down a bit, he said, that doesn't mean they have to stop altogether.

"Obviously, it's not as frenetic as it would be when you're 19 and full of everything being experienced for the first time," he said. "I just hope people come down and see us and enjoy it! Next year, or the end of this year, or maybe even earlier, there will be a new album, and we'll see what they think of that one!"

Which is not to say he's devoid of thoughts about the original one.

The Damned don't always get mentioned in the same breath as punk luminaries such as The Ramones, the Sex Pistols or The Clash, but "New Rose" and "Damned Damned Damned" undeniably set the early benchmark for the genre.

Not a bad accomplishment, Vanian noted, considering the album was thrown together in virtually no time and for virtually no money.

"When we did that album, it was literally done in almost just over a week, basically. … And I think some of the best albums have happened that way. There was no budget, there was no big production, and I think it's all the better for it, because what you got was a true recording of the performance of the band, and you captured every little nuance of it and the sound," he said. "It's close to a perfect record, in that sense. I think that's why it's managed to have such longevity. … The recording is so exciting and just captures everything perfectly — there's nothing thrown in, there's nothing fake there, it's all right in your face and there it is. It's a glorious sound! I'm very proud to have done it."

He's also proud of everything else The Damned have done over the years.

He's particularly pleased that the band is also known for featuring a more expansive musical palette than many of its contemporaries, having drawn from a wide range of influences and incorporating elements of gothic rock, new wave and rockabilly into its sound.

"The great thing is, The Damned, I always felt, was good because … we were always inviting people to discover other music they hadn't heard of or would have liked. … It annoyed me a little bit a couple of years into the whole [punk movement] because suddenly there were rules and regulations, it seemed, which never existed in the beginning. The whole thing was about a totally free movement," Vanian said. "I think a lot of people dismissed punk music, thinking that it wasn't musical — and there was an awful lot of music there to be discovered! There's some great stuff in there."

More important to him, though, is believing that there's more great stuff yet to come. He certainly understands all the retrospectives — 40th-anniversary tour and all that — but he doesn't intend to rest on his reputation.

"Because it's been 40 years, it's a big celebration. Everybody is rediscovering or revisiting it," Vanian said. "But for me personally, it's kind of odd because you're in a band going forward. Although you've been in the band a long time, you're still kind of thinking more ahead, more what you're doing now."

Hmmmm … prioritizing the future over the past … how very punk-rock of him.

Twitter: @esotericwalden —

With Bleached and Jail City Rockers

When • Tuesday, doors at 7 p.m., show at 8

Where • The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $23 advance, $30 day of; Smith's Tix