I wanna call these reissues of two Cocksparrer albums originally released back in the mid-‘90s, but according to the press sheet, they’re both “remastered and rerecorded,” which makes explaining them a bit more problematic and no doubt why they have the “2009” addendum in their titles. Not owning either’s previous incarnation, I do have a number of the tunes on the Bloody Minded best-of disc that came out about the same time and they do sound a bit better mixed here. I guess it doesn’t really matter what they are so long as they are good, and they are that. Across both one will find numerous now-hits—“A.U.,” “Because You’re Young,” “Tough Guys,” “I Feel a Death Coming On,” and more—plus the usual odds and sods the Captain tacks on to make the discs that much more crucial. Good stuff all around from one of the finest and most consistent punk bands ever, however the discs are ultimately classified.
–jimmy (Captain Oi)