Bustin' Out. New Wave to New Beat: The Post-punk Era 1979-1981

The period of 1979 to 1981, is considered by some, to be a time of musical creativity akin to the studio experimentation and sonic discovery of the 1960s that eventually led to the extreme self indulgences of progressive rock which achieved such levels of complexity that popular music seemed only to be the domain of the highly trained musician. However, when punk blew the doors wide open for any kid to be able to form a band, it created such a shockwave that the overblown excesses of the progressive rock movement turned many a pouting stage legend into a washed up granddad almost overnight.

In that 18 month period between 1976 and 1977, punk gave such a kick up the backside to the musical landscape that it irreversibly changed everything for good, but, as they say, All good things must come to an end, and by the time the Sex Pistol imploded, it was all over. That should have been the end of it, but from the ashes of arguments, murder charges, heroin overdoses and the great rock n roll swindle, the beginnings of the post-punk era tore away from the three-chord chaos of previous years as John Lydon fought back and paved the way for what was to follow with the experimental sounds of Public Image Limited.

Bustin Out: The Post Punk Era 1979-1981, is the first in a New Wave to New Beat series that seeks to deliver a snapshot of this period of creativity in all its forms, and compiler, Mark Maguire, has done an excellent job of digging out a collection of records that still sound futuristic 30 years after its conception. From the electronic pop of Tubeway Army, to the apocalyptic sounds of Killing Joke, all the way over to the New York dancefloor courtesy of Arthur Russells Loose Joints project that created the classic Is It All Over My Face and is here given the remix treatment by the legendary Larry Levan. 'Bustin' Out' offers a slice of the sounds that joined the dots between the thrashings of punk, echoes of dub, the heartbeat of the New York disco and the precise mechanics of European synthesisers and drum machines.

OK, so those familiar to the era will probably have all these tunes tucked away in their record collections anyway and I'm not entirely sure why somebody would want to release this compilation on a physical format if the intention was to get the kids interested in a criminally overlooked period of music, but if like me you're in that age bracket of being too young to have heard these records first time round and still believe in buying music then this C.D is a fine introduction to the sound.

4 out of 5

Tim Forrester