The Membranes

Blackpool post-punkers who started in the late 70s, lasted until about '90, then, as many of these acts do, reunited in the 2000s for some... retrospection.

They made too much of a din to fit in with the clear-line aesthetic of Monochrome Set, weren't primal and jagged enough to be in the same bucket as Siouxsie, weren't gristly and wicked enough to be Mark E. Smith rivals, weren't jangly enough to be an Aztec Camera co-headliner, and weren't goth enough to Bauhaus buds, but they were undeniably hooky, melodious, and they had a zaniness and intensity that I really dig.

Their final album, Kiss Ass, Godhead, was recorded by Steve Albini, and I think the fact they partnered with him says a good deal about how they figured into the U.K. scene and what their sound was.