 On release , Chris Welch of Melody Maker declared : " Instant hit ! John Lennon is singing better than ever . With a beautiful rock ' n ' roll echo chamber on his mean but meaningful vocals and some superb drumming , it makes up the Plastics ' best piece of boogie yet . " Writing in the NME in 1975 , Charles Shaar Murray wrote of the song 's " volcanically desperate optimism " and rated it " a classic " . Shaar Murray added , with reference to " Cold Turkey " also : " I can 't remember anybody else who put out two such utter killers in a row over the same period of time . " 
