Messthetics #102: D.I.Y. 78-81 London Ii

An EXCELLENT compilation of late 70s/early 80s lo-fi punk underground gems. Albeit not as stellar as the #101 London I comp of the series, there still plenty of jewels in the rough to discover. For the fans of Joy Division, the Damned, Sham 69, Swell Maps, the Ex, the Stranglers, Music Machine, Bratmobile… look no further! In contrast to the #101 comp, the emphasis here is on compositions with a heavier sound which to me feels as the harbinger of early 80s hard core (and maybe 90s riot grrrl; eg. track 21) while still referencing sounds that belong to the 1960s garage-psychedelia and freakbeat era. Dig it!
Play 9, 17, 18, 16, 5, 7, 20, 21, 23, 13, 6, 22
1. Hard core-ish with weird distorto guit leads and happy vocals.
2. Silly uptempo sing-along.
3. Dark. Joy Division meets Siouxsie/Banshees.
4. Punk. Dry, apocalyptic, millitant.
5. Joy Division-ish new wave w/ 60s psych chorus and vocals.
6. Casio-beat driven indie pop. The Magnetic Fields.
7. Noise-tape experimentation. Very Swell Maps.
8. Jazzy/hippy psychedelia/flower power.
9. Fuck yeah! Woah! I believe this called “FREAK BEAT”. Punky.
10. Whacked out heavy punk with catchy synth-driven chorus.
11. The Damned and Sham 69.
12. FCCs!
13. Post-punky. Got that Blondie NYC punk sound.
14. Heavy synth psych with punk guitar. Disturbing/psychotic vox.
15. Fast punker. The Damned.
16. Catchy psych rock’n’roll about marmalade.
17. What a gem?! Killer garage-psych punker with a sappy break. The Music Machine meets Serges Gainsbourg.
18. Crazy dance-y fast. Awesome. The Stranglers
19. Psych indie pop. The Soft Boys.
20. Straight up. Hard core-ish punk. Mike Howes will dig.
21. 60s farfisa. Proto riot grrl. The Bratmobile. The Rondelles.
22. Booming bass. Spy rock references.
23. Militant and offensive. The Ex