Sudden Death Records is doing Canadian music history an incredible service putting out these fantastic compilations of early Vancouver punk rock. They’re already lovingly assembled tracks, histories and pictures (that make me pine for the legible dimensions of LP cover art) of the Modernettes, the Young Canadians, and DOA. Now you’ve got the power pop of the Pointed Sticks to compliment the retro fashion you’ve been wearing this summer. Local bands get forgotten too easily and most Canadians are too modest to demand memorials, Sudden Death are ensuring our punk history doesn’t gather dust. But don’t think that this is just some academic exercise, the Pointed Sticks wrote crisp, new wavey songs that will have you pogoing on the spot. (Terence Dick)
CD, Sudden Death Records, Cascades PO Box 43001, Burnaby, BC, V5G 3H0, www.suddendeath.com