Bleep

If nothing else, Public Image Ltd. certainly were aware of their effect. Even the band name was a call out, a not so subtle shot fired from John Lydon at the press both foreign and domestic for their presumptions about his prior work with the Pistols and the work that would come to be. PIL’s opening salvo First Issue struck quite a chord wherever it was heard, which was not the US. Considered too crass and rough-hewn for American audiences, First Issue has only reached American shores via import until now thanks to Light In The Attic. Restoring the LP to its original 1978 glory (plus an added sheen from new remastering and other added ephemera), tracks like eponymous first single and the dour two-parter ‘Religion’ feel in conversation with the original ethos and musicianship of punk’s first wave while also also offering hints at the more genre explorative and mind-altering ruckus PIL would kick up in the years to come. It remains an essential introduction to one of the UK’s most important groups.