Reflex US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Following on from the Savage Young Du box set of early demos, we're returned to Bob Mould's legendary Minneapolis punk rockers for a trip into some of the rarest live recordings of the band in their heyday. From ground zero for the band in July 1979 on the A-side through their evolution up to September of the following year on sides C and D, this captures a band with nothing to lose and everything to gain as they started out on the bumpy road to their eventual status as true legends of Midwest hardcore. There's an abundance of classics on here, from 'All Tensed Up' to 'Gilligan's Island' and 'Drug Party', sounding rawer than you could possibly dream of, played to threadbare crowds and full of electric tension.