The Pop Group

Citizen Zombie (Freaks R Us)

Liberated by the Sex Pistols, some late-Seventies Brits felt three-chord punk was too limiting. They became post-punk, generally the most pissed-off dance music you heard, with an odd cerebral bent and an even further turn to leftist politics. Announced with 1979’s gorgeous single “She’s Beyond Good and Evil,” the beautifully misnamed Pop Group might have been the most romantic of the lot, self-mythologized by singer Gareth Sager as “teenage Rimbauds” in Jon Savage’s definitive text England’s Dreaming. On their first LP in 35 years, the now middle-aged Rimbauds still make like Chic meeting Ornette Coleman in Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Black Ark Studios – after swallowing some Noam Chomsky tracts. “The most sensational secrets in the history of humanity/ Saints of insanity,” Sager rhymes across “Box 9.” Other similarly thrilling tracks like “Nations” and “St. Outrageous” mark this a most welcome comeback. (Thu., 10:45pm, Hotel Vegas Patio; Fri., 11pm, Maggie Mae’s Rooftop)

***.5

This article appears in March 20 • 2015.

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Tim Stegall contributed to The Austin Chronicle 1991-1995, and was a staff writer 1995-1997. He returned as a contributor in 2013. He has also freelanced for publications ranging from Flipside to Alternative Press to Guitar World. He plays punk rock guitar and sings in the Hormones.