Various Artists - Messthetics 108 South Coast DIY '77-'81 – Hyped2death – H2D - ***

The Messthetics series assembles extremely raw punk era ephemera, culled from demos and cassette releases, into documents of distinct regional undergrounds, this time making the case for a South Coast sensibility. The airy, post-pop of Chichester's Indifferent Dance Centre should have blossomed; Portsmouth's Parasites sound utterly inept, but O.D. Baby's has a haunted grandeur; from Brighton, Joe Dash ape The Fall and future anarcho-punk legends Poison Girls gnash nastily. Southampton's Catholic Girls formed after four schoolgirls skipped St Anne's Convent for a pro-choice rally, and saw The Gang Of Four on a wagon. Their actual track, Child's Vision, is not great, but, as ever with Messthetics, extensive sleeve-notes contextaulise the recordings with poignant, piquant details.

(5/6/11)