Fatal Erection Year

At least nobody can accuse Poison Idea of hypocrisy -- an archival release containing a live Record Collectors Are Pretentious Assholes EP, and compilation and other tracks, ensures completeness on the one hand, while meaning the titular subjects of that EP can still search for the original pressing. Then again, the cover art for that release was Pig Champion's own record collection to start with. The Fatal Erection Years covers the earliest beginnings of Poison Idea, when loud, fast rules weren't merely the key element in hardcore but pretty much its raison d'etre. Given the relatively limited variation among many of the songs -- thrilling and fun as they are sonically -- in some respects, the differences in the tracks from the debut Pick Your King EP all come down to the track titles like "In My Headache," "Castration," and "Self Abuse." ("Legalize Freedom" is still a great nonsense title, though, and "(I Hate) Reggae" is truly mind-boggling in a world in which Bad Brains existed, though at least its slightly slower start provides the first bit of musical variety on the whole collection.) "A.A.," the first song from the original Record Collectors release, marks a shift toward a slightly more cavernous sound, with the guitar coming through with a heavier feeling than before, while the bass-led start to "Thorn in My Side" and "Time to Go" -- the latter also possessing something close to a surf-guitar break -- starts showing other ways forward. Further hints also turn up on some compilation tracks from the time, thanks to a cover of "I Got a Right" by Iggy & the Stooges, which ends with a loop of "straight-edge asshole" and "Typical" busting out a riff that sounds pretty "Communication Breakdown." The 1983-era tracks from a live show rip along entertainingly well, but sometimes it's all down to the between-song moments -- thus, from "Slam Dance Jam": "By the way, we're Adam Ant." ~ Ned Raggett