Tracklist:

LP 1
1. Shot By Both Sides (single version)
2. Definitive Gaze
3. Motorcade
4. The Light Pours Out Of Me
5. Parade
6. Feed The Enemy
7. Rhythm Of Cruelty
8. Back To Nature
9. Permafrost

LP 2

1. Because You’re Frightened
2. You Never Knew Me
3. A Song From Under The Floorboards
4. I Want To Burn Again
5. Sweetheart Contract
6. This Poison
7. Naked Eye
8. Physics
9. Holy Dotage
10. Final Analysis Waltz”

Howard Devoto co-founded The Buzzcocks but left just as the seminal punk band was on its ascent. Could he have predicted the success? Might he have stayed? Well, the fact he didn’t has birthed one of the great post-punk/new wave bands of all time: Magazine. And with the band’s sound standing the test of time and paving the way for many modern indie post-punk bands today, Magazine’s back catalogue is as relevant as it ever was.

A great starting point with Magazine is this compilation – it’s the best of their first three years and the reform years. The first version of this album was released on CD by Virgin in the 80s, but this more complete retrospective collection has been rejigged, updated and expanded and it’s on vinyl for the first time. Devoto himself has curated it.

The album starts out with the stunning ‘Shot By Both Sides’, which was released in 1971 and is considered a seminal work of the post-punk genre. The song is built around a Pete Shelley of The Buzzcocks guitar riff. But Magazine were comfortable for leaving the familiar behind and the epitome of this is one of their most stunning moments – the creepy, dark pop noir of ‘Permafrost’. It sounds like a precursor to what Nick Cave would go on to do and had none other than Martin Hannett of Joy Division fame sat in at the controls. Magazine might not have been as commercially profitable as the Buzzcocks but they’re a cultural heavyweight deserving of their continued acclaim.