LiLiPUT | Kleenex (Complete Recordings)

With the exception of the Raincoats and the Slits, LiLiPUT was really the only other viable contender to the mantle of best all-female post-punk band; and they're Swiss! If you like either of the aforementioned groups, LiLiPUT is essential listening. - Ariel

Formed in Zurich in 1978 by guitarist Marlene Marder and bassist/vocalist Klaudia Schiff, [Liliput] began with the name Kleenex until the threat of a lawsuit by corporate giant Kimberly-Clark (who had copyrighted the name Kleenex) forced them to become Liliput in 1980. Recording for the great English indie label Rough Trade, the then-Kleenex produced jumpy, aggressive, clamorous punk-noise that featured Marder's scratchy, semi-melodic guitar and Schiff's yelping vocals. Not punk rock in the fast, loud, economical sense, Liliput were forging a different kind of punk, one that was gleefully anarchic, avant-garde, unrestrained, and suffused with a giddy, almost palpable sense of joy. Listening to this music, one gets the sense that there was a near-rapturous enjoyment that went into these recordings. Their tenure at Rough Trade was short, as was their interest in exploring career options beyond Europe.

By 1982, when they released their first LP, they seemed perfectly happy remaining in Switzerland, running the band as part of numerous other artistic projects (painting, writing, etc.) they pursued. By the end of 1983, Liliput had disbanded, and the music they had recorded quickly achieved legendary, but mostly unheard, status. As for the band, they seemed destined to be relegated to the status of feminist-inspired punk rock footnote. All of this changed in 1993, when the Swiss label Off Course released a double-disc, 46-track compilation of the entire recorded output of Kleenex/Liliput. The result was one of the great reissues of the decade. Unfortunately, it went out of print shortly after its release, but Kill Rock Stars released it again in early 2001, making it more accessible than before. The exuberance and excitement of Liliput's breathtaking music can be enjoyed once again, and a band that was almost forgotten returns with some of the most artful, contemporary, truly alternative music to be recorded under the genre identifier of punk rock. Also, fans of riot grrrl rock take note: this was a tremendously influential band. Although they eschewed extreme confrontation, there is a compelling sense of self that imbues this music and lit the way for a new generation of female musicians.

[John Dougan, allmusic.com]

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Josef K - Entomology (2006)

Josef K's complete studio recordings can be had on two discs. Young and Stupid and The Only Fun in Town/Sorry for Laughing, both of which were reissued in 2002, tell the whole story, yet they were deleted by the time of Entomology's late 2006 release. The disc marks the first time anything Josef K-related has been released Stateside, and it passably packs the highlights. Half of the tracks are pulled from Sorry for Laughing (a 1980 album that initially didn't make it past the test-pressing phase) and The Only Fun in Town (a 1981 album that featured some re-recordings of Sorry for Laughing material), while the remainder wraps up all the essential sides from the band's singles, in addition to a 1981 BBC session for John Peel. If you have the 2002 LTM reissues, there's no need to obtain the disc; it would be completely redundant. If you don't have them, you'll be getting the vivid gist of a sharp and short-lived band — one that delivered brief, spastic shards of over-caffeinated post-punk with skittish vocals on the verge of spinning out of control. Along with Fire Engines, Orange Juice, Associates, Altered Images, Scars, Simple Minds, Aztec Camera, and Cocteau Twins, Josef K were standouts of an extremely vital post-punk era Scotland. This disc, along with Orange Juice's The Glasgow School and Scritti Politti's Early, is one of the essential post-punk reissues of 2005/2006.

[Andy Kellman, allmusic.com]

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The Homosexuals - The Homosexuals' CD (2003)

This is classic raw, angular D.I.Y. post-punk with a pop sensibility; a must for fans of Pere Ubu, Wire, or the Television Personalities. If you enjoy this--and why wouldn't you?--please visit Chuck Warner's fabulous Hyped to Death website and order their Homosexuals 3CD 'Astral Glamour' set. While you're there, I implore you to check out the Messthetics series; you won't regret it, but your bank account might. - Ariel

The Homosexuals were an influential British punk band formed in 1972 as Rejects by Bruno Wizard, Anton Hayman, and Jim Welton (who has also gone by the names L. Voag, Amos, and Xentos).

Their angular guitars, complex melodies, and experimental leanings distanced them somewhat from the punk rock being created by their contemporaries and has cemented their reputation as a pre-cursor to post-punk. They released very little during their lifetime, and most of what they did release was on small run vinyl on obscure record labels. The members also recorded in various combinations under several different pseudonyms. These "side projects" include Amos & Sara, George Harassment, Sara Goes Pop, and Nancy Sesay & The Melodaires. The only full length LP by the band, 1984's The Homosexual's Record was complied and released by Chris Cutler for Recommended Records, reissued remastered on CD with additional tracks in 2004 as The Homosexual's CD. Also released that year was Astral Glamour, a 3-CD set including the band's entire catalgoue, unreleased songs, and work by several of the band's pseudonymous projects.

[wikipedia.org]

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