Memory Span

How the Lines slipped through the cracks of the post-punk canon for so long is anybody's guess, but Acute Records finally remedied their long exile in 2008 with this impeccable compilation. Recalling but never aping many of their contemporaries such as the Feelies, the Soft Boys, the Cure, Joy Division, and Wire, this British quartet's recipe of angular riffs, agitated emotions, and dub-inspired production trimmings has a hypnotic power all its own. Compiling EPs, singles, unreleased tracks, and John Peel performances for the first time on CD, Memory Span covers the band's run from 1978 to 1983 and features a dizzying mastery of styles: from the punk anthem "White Night" to the disco-punk shuffle "False Alarm" to "Part II," which evokes the gothy excursions of their sometime tourmates Bauhaus. Despite also touring with the Cure and the Birthday Party, the Lines never found their commercial footing, but Memory Span does them great justice and is a must-own for fans of the period.