This two-disc set compiles the second and third albums from this punk rock institution from South Shields in the North-East of England. 

Heading way back to 1980 We Gotta Get Out Of This Place opens with a killer pairing of Never ‘Ad Nothing and Police Oppression. Honestly, you’re out of breath after that assault on the senses. And so the Upstarts crank out hit after hit on here. Hard-as-nails punk rock that definitely parallels what the Rejects were doing at the time – in fact, Ronny Is A Rocker has almost got a cockney knees up about it. Obviously, this pre-dates UK82 and it precedes a time when the Upstarts were introducing other influences into their sound, so what you have here is a timeless album of rock-solid punk rockers.

Onto 2,000,000 Voices and whilst the punk aggression is still there, the spit and sawdust has been embellished with a spray of polish and a flexing of musical wings. There are touches of reggae here and there, aligning the Upstarts with the likes of The Clash or The Ruts more than any streetpunk contemporaries. Paul Thompson (Roxy Music) drums on some of the tracks – a sign that the band was looking well beyond traditional punk boundaries. Otherwise, drumming duties are looked after by Decca Wade who went onto life in Crashed Out.

This album is super catchy with lifetime classics (You’re Nicked, Mr Politician, and Guns For The Afghan Rebels to name a few) and so many memorable tunes. A highlight for me is the understated Stick Diary – massively passionate, I would go as far as to say this is reminiscent of recent Steve Ignorant output, not bad considering this is over 40 years old! There’s also a nod to the punk poetry that was doing the rounds at the time (take a bow Attila The Stockbroker) with Heath’s Lament.

Historical documents are usually found in museums and libraries, but this is one essential piece that needs to live in stereos everywhere, cranked up really high, with messages just as powerful today as they were several decades ago. RIP Mensi. Tom Chapman