The only anarchy inspired musical screeds that are worth a damn at this point – or ever – was the stuff spilling out of England during the late seventies and early eighties. There were blue eyed and blond haired retreads a bit later on in the decade, but for the most part were average or inconsistent. Of course, Crass is probably the group most often associated with this kind of thing – as well it should be. While the band didn’t work to be heard by a wide audience, which could actually be thought as antithetical to the whole point of politicized music, Crass did form a record label and disseminated music it like which sported a message. Preaching to the choir, then as now, though, seems like nothing too distant from being a cheerleader.

Either way, one of the groups the Crass worked with was an ensemble called Zounds, the name being derived from the contraction for “God’s Wounds.”  The Reading based band functioned mostly as a trio, but with the line up being as malleable as its politics was left wing, it be difficult to detail all involved. By the time that Zounds landed a chance to issue its first and only long player, there’d been a few folks playing every instrument, Steve Lake being the only constant.

And while the group’s album, Curse of Zounds, from 1981was an important anarcho-release, the band’s first single is really the most rewarding. “War,” which obviously details world wide skirmishes as well as infringement against a individual rights at home, comes off like a lost Subhumans track. Considering the fact that no one was or has since been able to approach that sound, the group’s single stands as a unique pillar of early, grimy politi-punk. What follows, “Subvert,” again cops a bit of Subhumans attitude, but presents Zounds as one of the most rhythmically advanced groups to come out of the era. Surely, the ensemble isn’t able to approach Gang of Four territory, but that’s only because Zounds isn’t pulling from a funk tradition so much as the punky reggae stuff the Clash worked up. The song’s bridge is all ska-styled upstrokes before diving back into some wide open, chiming chords.

Solidifying its tie to JA music, Zounds even taped Mikey Dread, the host of England’s first all Jamaican radio show, to produce a pair of tracks – “Dancing” and “More Trouble.” And while Dread is renowned for his talents behind the board, those endorsements are generally pointed at his reggae fair. Recording two tracks with Dread probably didn’t hurt Zounds’ visibility, but the music was pretty boring – and that’s being kind.

Collecting all of Zounds’ work onto a single disc probably reduces the possibility of folks being impressed, compacting time and stylistic shifts. Even with the clutch of tracks that aren’t worth a listen, Curse of Zounds comes off a far sight better than most Crass records. They might owe us a living, but I’d rather hear Zounds explain it with some semblance of musicality.