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    • Rough Trade Shops: Post Punk

    07/07/2003 | Emi Int'l 

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    All Music Guide Review

    Post-punk might've given way to the brighter and more pop-oriented sounds of new wave around 1982, but "post-punk" as a label has been affixed to many bands that have come and gone since, including a large cluster of herky-jerky yahoos that were floating around in the early 2000s, most of whom were quickly bundled together for their throwback appeal. The two-disc Post Punk, an addition to the Rough Trade Shops series, curiously binds two waves -- if you'll pardon the use of the word "waves" -- without considering the wealth of like-minded bands that came and went between them. Nineties bands like Six Finger Satellite, Dog Faced Hermans, and Trenchmouth could fit neatly into this design; however, the time apparently wasn't right for a revival of the '90s post-punk revival. That's a shame, because those bands were just as thrilling and are just as deserving of inclusion, if not more so than some of the lesser 21st century outfits. (What's more, the names are just as absurd as Crispy Ambulance, one of the names here.) With or without the gaffe, Rough Trade has put together another lovingly packaged and attentively sequenced compilation. It doesn't take the easy route, and instead mixes the obvious in with some rare gleams that are liable to placate the most fussy obscurantist. Scritti Politti's presence is likely to perplex those who are only familiar with the group's mid-'80s pop-chart run, yet their early days are ripe for the picking, best represented by the scratchy spirals and lazily swaying lurch of "Skank Bloc Bologna." Delta 5 never made an album that rivaled anything from like-sounding Leeds peers Gang of Four, but "Mind Your Own Business" -- steady peasoup-peasoup rhythm, hectoring group vocals, jagged guitars -- clings to the ribs as well as "I Found That Essence Rare." Other typically neglected acts, from Family Fodder to Essential Logic to Maximum Joy, are featured alongside more familiar ones like Wire, PiL, and the Fall. Out of the latest school, the Rapture, Erase Errata, and Gramme lead the way, along with the sadly departed Life Without Buildings, who bowed out in true post-punk fashion after a handful of singles and one great album. Along with continuing Rough Trade's excellent run of compilations, Post Punk also rates with In the Beginning There Was Rhythm, New York Noise, and Mutant Disco -- fellow retrospectives that are just as fun as they are historical. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

    Track Listing

  • Track#
  • Title
  • Artist
  • time
  • 1
  • I Found That Essence Rare
  • Gang Of Four
  • 3:14
  • 2
  • Georges Five
  • Georges Leningrad
  • 4:08
  • 3
  • We Are All Prostitutes
  • Pop Group
  • 3:12
  • 4
  • Die Matrosen
  • LiliPUT
  • 3:47
  • 5
  • Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks
  • Rapture
  • 3:57
  • 6
  • Mind Your Own Business
  • Delta 5
  • 3:11
  • 7
  • Shoplifting
  • Slits
  • 1:35
  • 8
  • Delayed Reaction
  • Rogers Sisters
  • 2:59
  • 9
  • Sunny Day
  • Pigbag
  • 2:52
  • 10
  • You're No Good
  • ESG
  • 3:09
  • 11
  • Another Song
  • Swell Maps
  • 1:43
  • 12
  • You
  • Au Pairs
  • 2:50
  • 13
  • Fade Away
  • New Age Steppers
  • 5:33
  • 14
  • Careering
  • Public Image Limited
  • 4:32
  • 15
  • You and You
  • DNA [1]
  • 2:05
  • 16
  • The Leanover
  • Life Without Buildings
  • 5:22
  • 17
  • For My Country
  • UK Decay
  • 2:21
  • 18
  • Skank Bloc Bologna
  • Scritti Politti
  • 5:50
  • 19
  • Sex Machine
  • Flying Lizards
  • 3:25
  • 20
  • Disco Pope
  • Prats
  • 2:42
  • 21
  • Groupmegroup
  • Liquid Liquid
  • 3:17
  • 22
  • Ex Lion Tamer
  • Wire
  • 2:20
  • 23 (2)
  • Too Many Creeps
  • Bush Tetras
  • 4:00
  • 24 (2)
  • Robot
  • Futureheads
  • 2:11
  • 25 (2)
  • Contort Yourself (Original Version)
  • Chance, James
  • 3:01
  • 26 (2)
  • Asbestos Lead Asbestos
  • World Domination Enterprises
  • 2:45
  • 27 (2)
  • The Fish Needs a Bike
  • Blurt
  • 2:40
  • 28 (2)
  • Debbie Harry
  • Family Fodder
  • 3:11
  • 29 (2)
  • Like You
  • Gramme
  • 4:09
  • 30 (2)
  • Definitive Gaze
  • Magazine
  • 4:26
  • 31 (2)
  • Lola
  • Raincoats
  • 4:03
  • 32 (2)
  • Sink
  • bIG fLAME
  • 2:39
  • 33 (2)
  • Last Words
  • 23 Skidoo
  • 3:38
  • 34 (2)
  • Yes I Do
  • Chicks On Speed
  • 2:35
  • 35 (2)
  • Tongue Tied
  • Erase Errata
  • 1:39
  • 36 (2)
  • I, Bloodbrother Be (£4,000 Love Letter)
  • Shock Headed Peters
  • 6:41
  • 37 (2)
  • Industrial Estate
  • Fall
  • 1:56
  • 38 (2)
  • Searching for Mr Right
  • Young Marble Giants
  • 2:51
  • 39 (2)
  • Deaf
  • Crispy Ambulance
  • 3:55
  • 40 (2)
  • This Is Pop?
  • XTC
  • 2:38
  • 41 (2)
  • White Mice
  • Mo Dettes
  • 3:37
  • 42 (2)
  • Bop Bop
  • Comet, Fats
  • 4:05
  • 43 (2)
  • Aerosol Burns
  • Essential Logic
  • 1:59
  • 44 (2)
  • Stretch (Disco Mix/Rap)
  • Maximum Joy
  • 6:12

  • Credits

    • Ian
    • Sound Effects, Turntables
    • Jowe Head
    • Bass, Vocals (Background), Handclapping


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