Though the title hints at the obscure horror-obsessed subgenre of punk, the new compilation series on the ever-savvy Sacred Bones takes after the Killed By Death series of compilations. Those storied records focused around obscure music from the late 70s punk explosion, and they're a clear precursor for the Brooklyn label's newest venture. It's the fruit of a search for weird and hard-to-find music from the same space that founder Caleb Braaten has been undertaking since 2007. The result does for post-punk what Nuggets did for late 60s garage rock, unearthing bizarre bands who produce oddities and competent facsimiles of more popular bands in equal measure. But also like Nuggets, what makes Killed By Deathrock so invigorating is that it's simply so fun—just put it on, let it rip, and make sure you play it loud.
Whatever idea "deathrock" might bring to mind, throw it away—from the opening moments of Your Funeral's "I Wanna Be You," it's a surprisingly sprightly, even bouncy album that's more hi-fidelity than you'd expect. The jangly guitars on the first track practically pop-out in 3D, and most of the others follow suit, underlining what was either a careful search for the master tapes or simply some remastering wizardry. The compilation's best moments are these buoyant ones—Afterimage's "Satellite Of Love" (not a Lou Reed cover) is a meaty anthem with a stellar vocal performance, while fellow Americans Screaming For Emily steal the spotlight with "The Love", whose sly vocal performance could be a precursor for Britpop were it not for the excited drumming and wonderfully cheesy choral synth work.
As with so many post-punk also-rans, the spectre of Joy Division hangs heavy over the compilation (try not to hear "Transmission" in the central riff of "Satellite Of Love"). Peter Hook basslines are the order of the day. Sometimes it's bald-faced, as with Italian obscurities Move, and sometimes it's a bit more clever, like Frenchmen Bunker (later Bunker Strasse), who take the production style of Unknown Pleasures and give it a good coat of fuzz. The undeniable pilfering is an artifact of the compilation's nature—it's a collection of pleasing offcuts rather than long lost gems.
Not that there aren't some of those. Germany's Taste Of Decay are more punk than post, and their cheap entry-level distortion feels viscerally satisfying next to the other bands' chillier styles of production. The aptly-named Kitchen & The Plastic Spoons (a short-lived Swedish "goof band") sound like Magazine gone mad with wriggly synths and hilariously affected vocals. The latter are an especially weird inclusion, and it highlights the best part of Killed By Deathrock—discovering these strange little bands that time forgot. Not all of them are worth exploring, certainly, but bands like Screaming For Emily (and their 1987 album Scriptures) and Bunker Strasse bear further investigation.
None of that would matter if the compilation weren't well-executed. But from the clever artwork to the sound quality, Sacred Bones have outdone themselves, and the urge of so many compilation curators to pack a CD within an inch of its life is forgone in favour of a highly listenable 40-minute album. Considering it spans almost a whole decade, it's remarkably well-sequenced too—you might not guess that Screaming For Emily came a whole seven years later than Kitchen & The Plastic Spoons. Killed By Deathrock is clearly a well-researched labour of love. It might seem a bit slight for seven years in the making, but hopefully that just means there'll be more down the line.
