Although they never really made a splash in the U.S. and were roundly ignored in their native U.K. after their magnificent first album , are still thought of highly by connoisseurs of British indie of the late '80s. Their trademark sound, taking 's trademark feedback and fuzz, but stripping away the pretentious mopery in favor of a bright and shiny pure sound, was hugely influential at the time, with bands like , and working much the same stylistic area. None of those bands, fine though they were, had ' secret weapon: guitarist 's knack for perfect little two-minute songs. Nobody had written so many 120- to 150-second gems since 's days, and this 21-track compilation includes most of the classics, with the cultily-adored singles and all present and accounted for, as well as many of the best tracks from and its 1989 follow-up, . Most interestingly for American audiences, the disc includes fully half of ' swan song, 1991's , which hadn't been released stateside. Unfortunately, its mix of beats and gauze is far less interesting than the absolutely perfect first two albums. also includes three U.K. B-sides, including a swinging, sque version of 's droning, -like ~ Stewart Mason