Dirty Disco (Best Of)

Personnel: Caroline Murphy (vocals).
Liner Note Author: John Donald Robb.
Recording information: Sawmills Studio (2005).
Authors: Chris Bohn; Larry Cassidy; Vincent Cassidy; Peter Saville.
Released by James Nice's LTM label in 2008, this is a summary of the Blackpool band's output through 2007's Part-Primitiv. The parenthetical part of the title doesn't seem accurate since "Crazy Wisdom," a towering 1985 A-side that stands with the best of anything released on Factory Benelux and Factory proper -- Joy Division and New Order included -- is missing. Even with that significant omission, the number of tracks taken from the band's singles outnumbers those from the albums. Chronological and otherwise representative, the selections trace the developments of an undervalued band whose releases quickly went from terse post-punk scrapings to robust left-field pop. There's one exclusive: a rainy-day "lounge version" of "Knew Noise." ~ Andy Kellman