Imagine my predicament. I was all set and ready to hit the play button on my car disc player, crank the volume, and get an earful of some of my favorite punk artists doing those lost classics from a timeless generation of rejected youth, and what do you suppose happens? No, the car didn’t break down but it might just as well have, as the result was basically the same. I got stuck on the parkway due to an accident, with nothing to do but sit there and stew in it. So with my emotions building but my nerves still moderately calm, I decided to hit the play button anyway though I knew it was a risk. At first I had the volume down to a comfortable listening level figuring the output was going to be muddled in lo-fi imperfections and sonic resistance as is the general case with reproducing those dusty findings of the past. But after about a minute and a half of the first Pistols’ demo that led off disc one, I was at full volume, and beginning to boil off some of that nervous energy that was slowly approaching the surface. This went on in succession for about the full half hour I was stuck in the jam, and let me tell you, the fact that I didn’t get out of the car, leap over the guardrail, and go tearing off in the other direction for fear I’d go stir-crazy is a miracle in itself! But I managed to regain my composure as the signal to proceed was given by the man in blue, and I was shuddering and shaking all the way to my destination. The moral to this story: Don’t listen to hard-core punk if you’re trapped inside your car with nowhere to let off steam! There’s no telling what you’ll be prone to do.

How refreshing it is to hear these two sixteen track compilations of pure punk rock aggression with all of the attitude and damnably senseless ranting that first made the artists a hit during the scene’s outbreak in the late seventies. Yes, we’ve all heard of the “big-time” acts that still manage to live on in the hearts and minds of overgrown teenagers everywhere—The Pistols, The Damned, Sham 69. But one of the coolest things about this package, aside from the shrewd selections chosen to grace the collection, is that for many, they’ll be hearing a lot of these groups for the first time! But even the true punk aficionado will surely find a reason to get up and rage over the resurfacing of locked away treasures from the likes of Surburban Studs, Spizz Energi, X-Ray Specs, and The Boys. In a current time where polished pop and whining wheeze-rock dominates the airwaves, and truthfully bores me to the core, it’s nice to take a step backward in time where a novice like myself can learn something new about such a highly influential movement that tragically broke off about as quickly as it began.

These well-selected anthologies feature more than just your average attractions, instead leaning toward many rare and obscure out-takes and live footage that probably suffered miserably tucked away from the outside world in forced obscurity. Many of the live recordings on this set originate from the famed Roxy in London, while early demos from The Sex Pistols and The Ruts, two of the movement’s more politically driven spokesmen, can be heard on both! The Pistols’ self-destructive Sid Vicious fronted his own offshoot project known as Vicious White Kids and the version they do of Sinatras My Way has to be heard to be truly believed. Its lucky old blue eyes must have never gotten wind of it before his passing, or God knows he wouldve lost it long ago!

So, before there was modern rock and new wave and gasp alternative, there was punk, and yet punk itself had so many different elements to it that mere one word categorization seems ludicrous. In fact, what youll hear in this collection is something different with each subsequent artist when their two minute turn fast approaches on the disc player, and yet theyre all bound together behind the tradition that began with a vision to unite and rebel all in the same furious breath! The true testament to a collection like this is whether or not after listening to it youll want to refer to it a number of times after, and subsequently go on a personal quest to find your favorites! Heres where The Music Club makes that decision easy for you with this prized collection of rancor-inducing, rabble-rousing brand of rock and roll furor thatll conjure up pleasant memories of a poorly misspent youth. With insightful liner notes presented on both volumes, youll embark on a listening journey thatll first begin with a written discussion of the historical significance of this catalog with in-depth details on the artists featured with their chosen cuts. This collection of "The United Kingdom of Punk Volumes 1 & 2" is highly recommended as a set where youll find something different, yet nauseatingly familiar, butt youll find yourself referring back to them again and again.