The dearth of alternative music outlets that cropped up in Southern California – both venues and labels – went a long way towards defining how independent markets in the biz would function in the coming decades. That’s not to say that the New York scene didn’t possess the same sort of culturally important signage off into the future, but the bands working the Los Angeles scene went on to define touring routes and musical genres in ways that ‘70s New Yawkers just didn’t.

One of the innumerable labels that grew out of the punk scene – in addition to the omni-venerable Bomp! – was Orange County’s Posh Boy Records. The clever moniker aside, the imprint was responsible for releasing everything from Social Distortion to ‘90s bands like the Offspring, who should rightly be considered the end result of tumult that the punk scene had sought to create.

Amongst the label’s laundry list of singles and full lengths were a few discs from a group called the Crowd. Posh Boy didn’t necessarily maintain a concerted and singular musical vision. Yeah, its releases were all punk related in one way or another, but with a scene as expansive as Southern California’s during the ‘70s, there’re endless strains of the genre pulling in various directions.

Over something like a twenty year period, the group would only release three full lengths. It’s first, though, would become a minor classic of sorts. There aren’t any avowed classics that wound up getting endlessly versioned, but A World Apart, even with its cheese ball cover remains an under appreciated entry into the LA punk scene.

Before the punk perfection gets examined, it’s worth noting that while most American bands shyed away from the reggae influence that the Clash displayed over there in the UK, the Crowd worked out some JA and rock hybrids. “Pressure Seeker” is all fey rock stuffs with hints of supplemental percussion and a reggae breakdown functioning as portions of each verse. The track’s not the most successful represented on A World Apart, but a curio that’s notable for its oddity if not its execution.
    
By contrast, “Desmond and Kathy” is pretty much a stone, punk classic. There’s enough power pop in there to tie the song to the Nerves or any of Peter Case’s endeavors. That being said, the Crowd intersperses its pop sensibilities with enough aggression to come off as something more than derivative and radio ready. The guitar solo might not work to endear the offering to punker purists, but with the group’s vocalist sporadically coming off like a tan Jello Biafra, it’s all just short of pop-punk perfection.

There a few other high water marks, but nothing really reaches back to “Desmond and Kathy.” Other places, as on “He,” the Crowd gets close, but not quite. And coming in at less than 30 minutes long, hunting the out of print disc down might be a bit anti climactic. That being said, for aficionados and collectors, A World Apart serves as not just a good disc, but a slab of historic punk. Just stay away from the reunion disc from the ‘90s.