Beat Pyramid (2008)

Holy 1979, Puritans! These cherub-faced British upstarts didn't actually enter the world till the late '80s, but their sound emanates from the Me Decade's fertile post-punk landscape — most specifically, from U.K. cult legends the Fall, who exploded onto the scene with the same sort of jagged, salacious energy Pyramid embraces. Singer Jack Barnett does his best Mark E. Smith redux, strident and cocksure, and his band backs him with messy, joyful abandon. As a tribute, the album is nearly impeccable. As an original piece of artistry? Not so much. B-
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