The Users - "Sick Of You" (3:22)
Johnny Moped - "Incendiary Device" (2:04)
The Astronauts - "Everything Stops For Baby" (2:07)
Pretty Boy Floyd And The Gems - "Rough, Tough, Pretty Too" (2:09)
23 Skidoo - "Last Words" (3:30)
The Notsensibles - "I'm In Love With Margaret Thatcher" (3:33)
The Rings - "I Wanna Be Free" (2:51)
The Now - "Development Corporations" (3:10)
The Killjoys - "Johnny Won't Get To Heaven" (6:58)
The Impossible Dreamers - "Spin" (0:29)
The Lines - "White Night" (3:25)
'O' Levels - "East Sheen" (3:06)
The Jermz - "Power Cut" (1:46)
Roses Are Red - "Can't Understand" (3:07)
Eric Random - "23 Skidoo" (3:11)
The Nerves - "TV Adverts" (2:48)
The Mekons - "32 Weeks" (1:34)
The Freeze - "For JPS (With Love And Loathing)" (2:09)
The Scabs - "Leave Me Alone" (2:38)
The Cravats - "You're Driving Me" (4:52)
The Shapes - "Wot's For Lunch Mum?" (1:34)
The Cigarettes - "They're Back Again, Here They Come" (3:47)
Disturbed - "I Don't Believe" (4:26)
Puncture - "Mucky Pup" (2:05)
Josef K - "Radio Drill Time" (4:05)
Review: Always impeccably curated and sumptuously presented, the seemingly endless Soul Jazz compilation series turns its attention to first generation punk and post-punk, with the years 1997-1981 their relatively strict boundaries. A short space of time, perhaps, but one that witnessed a massive outpouring of original, fresh sounds as the independent record label movement really got going. As you'd expect, this collects the best of the stuff that went under the mainstream radar - no Pistols or Clash here - but the quality level remains high. Jonny Moped's 'Everything Stops For Baby' is speedy and thrilling and very punk, sample lyric: "walking down the road with my incendiary device / Looking for an ear to blow it up with gelignite". 'O' Levels, meanwhile, set fire to the Surrey suburbs with 'East Sheen', all wiry guitars and couldn't give a toss backing vocals, but the double vinyl set also showcases the experimental advances that followed after punk, with 23 Skidoo's 'Last Words' proving to be the kind of gritty British funk that Section 25 and A Certain Ratio would be making their own shortly afterwards.
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