Various Artists:
Punk 45 ... :
Soul Jazz Records:
Out Now
★★★★★
Continuing their journey into untapped and rare sounds from around the world, the curators at Soul Jazz have stumbled headlong into the effervescent DIY punk and new-wave scene of the U.S.. during the key birthing period from 1973 onwards. A few snobs and musical purists will always cite McLaren's tardy sub-glam sub-trash incarnation as the be-all-and-end-all but, to be frank, the States were way ahead of the game before the (excellent) Sex Pistols turned it into an art-form.
And talking of art, this 21-track compilation is released in tandem with a sumptuous 360+ page tome called 'Punk 45 - The Singles Cover Art Of Punk 1976-80', although the book does feature imagery from long before. While that huge book covers both sides of the Atlantic, this inaugural selection of related spurts of anger, anguish and angst hail from the States. There are very early cuts from Flamin' Groovies, The Heartbreakers ('Chinese Rocks') and Pere Ubu (it's always a pleasure to hear the familiar 'The Modern Dance'), plus not-so-obvious contributions from the often-overlooked but no-less-important Tuxedomoon, The Normals, The Zeros and the charming 'Your (sic) Full Of Shit' by X-X, previously recorded by another contributing outfit electric eels (yes the Caps are silent).
There are introductory paragraphs to each track, a detailed account of underground punk in the U.S.A. and oodles of rare and unseen photos of some of the most disparate musicians from the genre. The Bizarros are one such band and rate as one of the true highlights here. They look like The Eagles, they sound like Roxy Music, they hailed from Devo's home-town Akron and they made a beautifully discordant yet funky sound.
Proof that there was more to the U.S. punk, new-wave and pre-hardcore scene than just Iggy and the Stooges, MC5 (the originators) and Black Flag. Bring on volume 2.
Punk 45 ... :
Soul Jazz Records:
Out Now
★★★★★
And talking of art, this 21-track compilation is released in tandem with a sumptuous 360+ page tome called 'Punk 45 - The Singles Cover Art Of Punk 1976-80', although the book does feature imagery from long before. While that huge book covers both sides of the Atlantic, this inaugural selection of related spurts of anger, anguish and angst hail from the States. There are very early cuts from Flamin' Groovies, The Heartbreakers ('Chinese Rocks') and Pere Ubu (it's always a pleasure to hear the familiar 'The Modern Dance'), plus not-so-obvious contributions from the often-overlooked but no-less-important Tuxedomoon, The Normals, The Zeros and the charming 'Your (sic) Full Of Shit' by X-X, previously recorded by another contributing outfit electric eels (yes the Caps are silent).
There are introductory paragraphs to each track, a detailed account of underground punk in the U.S.A. and oodles of rare and unseen photos of some of the most disparate musicians from the genre. The Bizarros are one such band and rate as one of the true highlights here. They look like The Eagles, they sound like Roxy Music, they hailed from Devo's home-town Akron and they made a beautifully discordant yet funky sound.
Proof that there was more to the U.S. punk, new-wave and pre-hardcore scene than just Iggy and the Stooges, MC5 (the originators) and Black Flag. Bring on volume 2.