Pitchfork

Hmm, the post-punk revival might be due for a revival. The rise of bands like Interpol, the Rapture, and Bloc Party several years ago brought with it a long-overdue resurgence of interest in the genre, particularly its most acclaimed acts such as Joy Division, Gang of Four, Wire, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Slits, and Orange Juice. More recently, bands whose catalogs were long out of print have enjoyed some welcome reissues, with DFA dusting off Pylon's Gyrate, Domino anthologizing Josef K, and Matador repackaging Mission of Burma's Ace of Hearts releases. Last year, the Acute label did its part by compiling the work of Scotland's the Fire Engines; an 18-track anthology reissuing the work of UK post-punks the Lines is set to follow later this spring.

The Lines toured with the likes of the Cure, Bauhaus, and the Birthday Party, but their 1980 single "Nerve Pylon" lacks the dourness or aggression of those groups. "I saw it all/ There's no need to say anything," guitarist Richard Conning begins gently, backed by electronic percussion, architecturally precise guitars, and a clicking sound. The harmonies and janglier guitar fills on the song's inscrutable chorus put me in mind of early Flying Nun bands like the Chills or the Bats, but after the next chorus, Conning starts holding out his notes, pushing them ever higher, practically in torch-song mode. "I can feel the impossible," he cries out. The rest of the band includes members of punk band Alternative TV and post-punks pragVEC-- for a moment, it sounds like they can feel it, too.