Various

★★★ Southend Punk Volume One ANGELS IN EXILE. CD

The surprisingly enjoyable sound of the Thames Delta’s punk movement.

Southend Punk Volume One contains shouting, Stooges riffs, Essex vowels, awkwardly taped drums and a surfeit of charm. It is like The Rough Guide To New Wave You’ve Never Heard. Of the 14 tracks recorded between 1978 and ’86, the most well-known voice is that of Alison Moyet’s, here as vocalist of The Vicars, giving it full Siouxsie on Radio Roy. The Steve Hooker Band’s How Did You Know? is a perfect example of his ‘New York punk and British beat’ combination. You can hear the (Southend-on?) sea-change in the early ’80s where everyone goes from sounding like the Pistols to Joy Division. The detailed booklet is fascinating, too. Every provincial town had their own versions of the clubs mentioned; Scamps, Crocs, Focus and the Esplanade. Southend Punk Volume One stands as testament to all those bands who, emboldened by the era’s DIY ethic, had their go.