Angular guitars, - and -influenced rhythms, dabblings with gadgetry, leftist politics, a dash of irony, and vocals that aren't so much yelled or sung as they're chanted or detachedly intoned must mean one thing and one thing only: . At the time of 's release, the level of resurgent interest in the style was so high that one might've expected a ten-part documentary series from . In reality, even himself could've told you that there wasn't a need for a "23 Skidoo: Ken Burns Post-Punk" compilation by the end of 2001. (Well, actually, he would've left them out of the series, so the point is probably moot.) After all, that artery was plugging quickly -- even the smallest blips on the U.K. 1978-1982 radar were re-registering with releases that paired small-time pressings of singles with live shows and otherwise abandoned material. Suddenly, aunties and uncles across the United Kingdom were recollecting sparsely attended gigs by , , and . Meanwhile, across the pond, books like were documenting the American side of (slightly later and rather different) and bands like re-joined to play old favorites and don new kneepads. But throughout all of this nostalgic hoopla, one piece of the U.K. puzzle remained missing: a definitive compilation. The legendary and compilations (both of which had ties to , a label, shop, and distributor that helped birth the scene) were released while the ball was rolling in the early '80s, but they became valuable out-of-print artifacts of the period at some point. Furthermore, the bootlegged labor of love series took the hunter-gathering obscurantism of a few steps further into the darkness of collector scumdom. So along came the trusted label to help matters...and the puzzle remains incomplete. However, the intent with 2002's wasn't to provide something definitive. Nothing short of an exhaustive multi-disc set could do such a thing with , as the scene was far too fertile and vast to distill the whole thing down to 11 songs by nine bands. One hope is that this disc will spawn a series similar to 's own series of compilations. Despite the drunken record-shop bins, there are many untapped resources the label could still cover, and much like the series, does a spectacular job of combining the known with the not so known. Within its tightly wrapped confines, demonstrates 's breadth, showcasing within the grooves, jabs, and rattling waves of static the style's influences ( experimentation) and the styles that the style influenced ( , almost every stripe of dance music that followed) at the same time. 's represents at ground zero and, like absolutely everything else here, continues to sound fresh and eminently exciting. also lean toward the side of the fence, abandoning guitar heroics for tape splicing, samples, and studio-manipulated scrap heaps of gray noise, all the while finding a way to coax out jerky rhythms through rhythm box throbs, handclaps, and non-traditional means (i.e., no discernible bass or drums) via repetition. Songs from (the perfect choice with boasting their best groove), (the title track), (one of which is a cover of 's obscuro pearl ) embrace in varying degrees, keeping the bass and drums as the central (and often only) focus and using guitars in a pointillistic fashion (if at all), all the while distancing themselves from traditional methods and attitudes. Topping it off is a thick booklet full of photos and liner notes that cover each band and tie the music in with the social climate they were residing in. And while one might bemoan the exclusion of , or other bands crucial to the ideology, there's no denying that is a great gateway into this expansive, fruitful, trailblazing era. ~ Andy Kellman