Music Review: Various Artists, Ork: Box

By Less Lee Moore

Rock and roll is nothing if not incestuous. Everyone likes to talk about who stole from whom (or if you’re less curmudgeonly, who influenced whom), but when music scenes are small, close-knit, and under the radar, such through lines are nearly impossible to pinpoint.

And so it is with the Ork Records Ork: Box, out on Record Store Day 2015, from the always-impressive Numero Records. You might wonder how bands as seemingly disparate as The dB’s, Television, Mick Farren, Link Cromwell (a.k.a. Lenny Kaye), and Cheetah Chrome would nestle so snugly together, but one listen to this dazzling collection of singles will dissuade any doubt. What’s even more remarkable is that the tracks are arranged in chronological order but play like the most cohesive mix tape ever.

But first, a bit of backstory: Terry Ork started Ork Records in the mid-1970s, and it’s considered not only the first punk label but also the original indie label, when the term still signified “independent” and not a sonic style. From 1975 to 1979, Ork released music from some of the most important and influential artists.

Even if you’ve already heard some of these bands, there’s bound to be something on this box set that’s going to flip your switch. For me, it was Prix, who sound like the missing link between Canadian indie darlings Thrush Hermit and David Bowie, where Big Star is the connective tissue. If that sounds good when you read it, wait until you actually hear the three songs included. Also fantastic are the post-Box Tops pre-Big Star selections from Alex Chilton, especially “All Of The Time.”

These are just some of the great discoveries on the box set. A pre-Peter Holsapple dB’s are here, too, along with the ridiculously adorable Idols and the gender-friendly Erasers with Susan Springfield on vocals.

The 1975 singles of Richard Hell on the box set might be better than the versions of the songs on 1977’s Blank Generation. They also remind us of a time when singles and albums weren’t released simultaneously as well as a time when “American punk” wasn’t synonymous with “Green Day.” Despite being nearly 40 years old, the two tracks from The Revelons sound pretty fresh, and I’m in love with that lyric from The Student Teachers’ “Christmas Weather” (you’ll know it when you hear it).

To go into too much detail about each of these 37 gems would ruin the fun. You’d better line up early on April 18 if you want a copy of this box set, though: it includes 16 vinyl 45s with original cover art carefully reproduced and is limited to a run of 2,000.

Ork: Box will be released by Numero Records on Record Store Day 2015.

Track List:
01. Television – Little Johnny Jewel Pt. 1
02. Television – Little Johnny Jewel Pt. 2
03. Richard Hell – Another World
04. Richard Hell – Blank Generation
05. Richard Hell – You Gotta Lose
06. Marbles – Red Light
07. Marbles – Fire And Smoke
08. Alex Chilton – Free Again
09. Alex Chilton – The Singer Not The Song
10. Alex Chilton – Take Me Home & Make Me Like It
11. Alex Chilton – All The Time
12. Alex Chilton – Summertime Blues
13. Prix – Girl
14. Prix – Everytime I Close My Eyes
15. Prix – Zero
16. Mick Farren – Play With Fire
17. Mick Farren – Lost Johnny
18. Link Cromwell – Crazy Like A Fox
19. Link Cromwell – Shock Me
20. Chris Stamey – Summer Sun
21. Chris Stamey – Where The Fun Is
22. Chris Stamey & The dBs – I Thought You Wanted To Know
23. Chris Stamey & The dBs – If And When
24. The Feelies – Fa Ce’La
25. The Feelies – Big Plans
26. Richard Lloyd – Get Off My Cloud
27. Richard Lloyd – Connection
28. Erasers – Funny
29. Erasers – I Won’t Give Up
30. Idols – You
31. Idols – Girl That I Love
32. Revelons – The Way You Touch My Hand
33. Revelons – 96 Tears
34. Cheetah Chrome – Still Wanna Die
35. Cheetah Chrome – Take Me Home
36. Student Teachers – Christmas Weather
37. Student Teachers – Channel 13