!Action Pact! - Punk Singles Collection (1984)

This 21-track roundup showcases every A-side, B-side, and EP track released by the Essex growlers, beginning with the two cuts that debuted them (alongside Dead Man's Shadow) on the Heathrow Touchdown EP in November of 1981. From there, the CD swings into the foreboding roar of "Suicide Bag" (and its chilling B-side, a tribute to hometown Stanwell) and on through the indie hits "London Bouncers," "Question of Choice," and "Yet Another Dole Queue Song," before bidding farewell with the band's final 45, "Cocktail Credibility." In between times, their takes on "Rockaway Beach" and Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll, Pt. 2" pinpoint the musical influences that fired not only !Action Pact! but the U.K. Oi! movement in its entirety and, though some of the political sentiments seem impossibly naïve today, there's still a fury to the commitment that renders this collection an essential acquisition.~Dave Thompson