The path Athens, Georgia band took to their first widely available album was uncommon, to say the least. First active in the early '80s, were part of the vibrant Athens scene that gave rise to , , and a host of lesser-known but equally innovative artists all exploring adventurous, new interpretations of rock & roll. played out regularly but didn't release any recordings aside from a few compilation tracks before disbanding in the late '80s, with bandmembers going on to work in bands like and . There were various reunions as the years went on, and in 2014, the band revisited both old recordings and songs written decades earlier but never fully realized. collects all of this output, presenting a portrait of a band that was very much part of the turning tides of independent music in a pivotal time. The compilation begins with seven songs tracked in 1984. There are similarities to ' slinky party rock and 's post-punk angst, but tap into a more lighthearted reading of these sounds on jumpy tunes like "Artsy Peace and Love" (which exhibits some of their / influence) and "He Said." Blurty saxophones and yelpy vocals on "Mad" recall the nihilistic fun of , while the (possibly unfinished) instrumental "Voices" hints at gothy experimentation with synthesizer parts and twitchy rhythms akin to the earliest material from . Four tunes in the middle of the album were written in the early '80s but committed to tape around 2014. These songs are a little scrappier, with "Meaningless Irregular" conveying the sound of a rough-edged, dive bar punk band playing live to a tiny room, and "Grey Coat" reactivating the group's particular brand of tense, shadowy rock. The album is rounded out by four chaotic live tracks from 1985, including shambling, nearly belligerent takes on their own songs and covers of classics by . captures the intersection of creative fire and absurdist fun where spent most of their time in their early existence. It's a great look at one of the many bands of their day who were making just as glorious a racket on the sidelines as their better-known peers were in the spotlight. ~ Fred Thomas