Various Artists - 'Going Underground: Teenage Kicks 2' (Sanctuary) Released 07/11/05

Just over six months on from the phenomenally successful ‘Teenage Kicks’ compilation, comes this follow-up money spinner ‘Going Underground – Teenage Kicks 2’. As the title nimbly suggests, once again Sanctuary delve into the realm of punk, new wave and 2 Tone from the glory days of the late seventies and early eighties for their kicks. True, some track selections may be blindingly obvious, but really there are a wealth of absolute gems on here that demand a place in anyone’s record selection.

Unsurprisingly, The Jam kick things off with the searing title track, Madness take the mantle with the zany ‘My Girl’, before Squeeze’s comical, TV commercial’s wet dream ‘Cool For Cats’ instils more feel good vibes into proceedings. Yet, better, more rewarding things are to be found elsewhere away from those chart-busting singles guaranteed to help the album shift some hardcore units. Sham 69’s blasé ‘Hurry Up Harry’ is refreshingly discordant and shambolic, while Jonathan Richman’s ‘Egyptian Reggae’ is just weird – in a good way of course. Other delights are to be found on CD2 including The Stranglers’ sublime ‘Golden Brown’, Ian Dury and The Blockheads’ chirpy ‘Reasons To Be Cheerful Pt. 3’, The Specials’ defining ‘Ghost Town’ and The Ramones’ brilliantly bizarre ‘Baby I Love You’. Department S’ outstanding ‘Is Vic There’ is the highlight of the perhaps slightly lesser known classics.

True, there are a few damp squibs - Pig Bag’s turgid, trumpet tooting ‘Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag’ and Flying Lizards’ ‘Money’, for example – but we can forgive such minor deviations, because this is a great encapsulation of a golden era.