While the original ethos of punk rock was built around the notion that "anyone can play this stuff," that should have resulted in more aural diversity than many of the first wave of English bands bothered to display, but X-Ray Spex were one of the few U.K. groups who had little interest in conforming to the sonic templates of the Ramones or the Sex Pistols. Dominated by the confident if monotonal wail of singer Poly Styrene and the saxophone riffs of Lora Logic (and later Rudi Thompson), X-Ray Spex managed to suggest a poppy energy and youthful enthusiasm in their four-square thrashing, and rather than yelling about anarchy or the dole, Styrene's songs offered an often witty critique of consumer culture and the ways in which identity was sold as a commodity to folks on the street (especially young women), communicated with both intelligence and joyous enthusiasm. (If anyone well and truly birthed the aggressive and socially conscious playfulness of the riot grrrl movement at its best, it was certainly Poly Styrene, right down to her retro junk-shop fashion sense.) X-Ray Spex cut only one studio album during their all-too-short existence, 1978's Germ Free Adolescents, and this release gives the album its definitive presentation -- along with the 12 songs from the original LP, this version adds four tunes from the group's first two singles (including their finest hour, "Oh, Bondage! Up Yours!") and seven cuts recorded live in the studio for John Peel's BBC radio show. In short, every studio recording from the group's initial incarnation is included in this release, and it captures five teenagers having a bash with the sort of smart and seditionary fun that would soon escape the first wave of punk. A superb document of a great band, and highly recommended to positively troublemaking young women everywhere. ~Mark Deming, All Music Guide