Angular guitars,
funk- and
disco-influenced rhythms, dabblings with
electronic 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:
post-punk. At the time of
In the Beginning There Was Rhythm's release, the level of resurgent interest in the style was so high that one might've expected a ten-part documentary series from
Ken Burns. In reality, even
Burns 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
Crispy Ambulance,
Drinking Electricity,
the Stunt Kites, and
the Normil Hawaiians. Meanwhile, across the pond, books like
Our Band Could Be Your Life were documenting the American side of
post-punk (slightly later and rather different) and bands like
Mission of Burma re-joined to play old favorites and don new kneepads. But throughout all of this nostalgic hoopla, one piece of the U.K.
post-punk puzzle remained missing: a definitive compilation. The legendary
Wanna Buy a Bridge? and
C81 compilations (both of which had ties to
Rough Trade, 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
Messthetics series took the hunter-gathering obscurantism of
Nuggets a few steps further into the darkness of collector scumdom. So along came the trusted
Soul Jazz label to help matters...and the puzzle remains incomplete. However, the intent with 2002's
In the Beginning There Was Rhythm wasn't to provide something definitive. Nothing short of an exhaustive multi-disc set could do such a thing with
post-punk, 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
Soul Jazz's own
Dynamite series of
reggae compilations. Despite the drunken record-shop bins, there are many untapped
post-punk resources the label could still cover, and much like the
Dynamite series,
In the Beginning does a spectacular job of combining the known with the not so known. Within its tightly wrapped confines,
In the Beginning demonstrates
post-punk's breadth, showcasing within the grooves, jabs, and rattling waves of static the style's influences (
disco,
funk,
reggae,
Krautrock,
electronic experimentation) and the styles that the style influenced (
indie rock,
post-rock, almost every stripe of dance music that followed) at the same time.
The Human League's
"Being Boiled" represents
synth pop at ground zero and, like absolutely everything else here, continues to sound fresh and eminently exciting.
Throbbing Gristle's
"20 Jazz Funk Greats," Cabaret Voltaire's
"Sluggin fer Jesus," and
This Heat's
"24 Track Loop" also lean toward the
electronic 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
Gang of Four (the perfect choice with
"To Hell With Poverty," boasting their best groove),
the Pop Group,
the Slits (the title track),
23 Skidoo, and
A Certain Ratio (one of which is a cover of
Banbarra's obscuro
funk pearl
"Shack Up") embrace
funk and
reggae 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
rock & roll 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
Public Image Limited,
Associates,
the Normal,
Magazine, or other bands crucial to the ideology, there's no denying that
In the Beginning There Was Rhythm is a great gateway into this expansive, fruitful, trailblazing era. ~ Andy Kellman
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