More fuel for the fire that is the passion of fans of British punk legends THE DAMNED is coming, in the form of "Punk Oddities & Rare Tracks," set to be released this month along with the live recording "Fiendish Shadows."

It's been a bit of a celebratory period for THE DAMNED, who, nearing their 40th year as a band, are taking every chance to celebrate their distinct brand of Punk Rock tomfoolery. While "Shadows" presents itself in a varied and consistent manner, "Oddities" is more of a grab bag of assorted songs and demos, as the title would suggest, covering the years between 1977 and 1982. Even if you're disappointed that none of their later, Gothic Rock-period material appears here, there are still plenty of good moments, with great renditions of "Thanks For The Night" and B-side classic "Nasty" contributing to the reasons dedicated fans ought to give it a listen. There aren't many weak tracks here, but the varying quality in production across the compilation makes it hard to just listen to straight through.

Don't get me wrong: it's really cool to hear early versions of killer tunes like "Stranger On The Town" and "Curtain Call" at such an exciting time in the band's history, but unless you're a die-hard fan of the band, you'd probably be better off checking out the studio efforts these songs were culled from in the
first place.

It's worth noting that, although there's some uneven-ness that's always inherent to legacy releases such as this, the fact that THE DAMNED have a.) the material to demand such a release, and b.) the kind of influence and adoration from fans that invites it, says a lot about how important the band was to UK Punk. They were right in the thick of things with bands like the SEX PISTOLS and THE CLASH, and they never did things any way but their own. Well, almost; included here is a live version of Captain Sensible's solo hit "Happy Talk," and it just feels out of place, with its cardboard-box recording quality and lyrics that seem silly and disjointed, even for this band of misfits and oddballs. There are plenty of other songs that could've made the cut, but the songs here are more than capable of representing this chapter of the band's career.

"Punk Oddities & Rare Tracks" is by no means comprehensive, but it offers some neat insight to a still- rising young band, full of creativity and energy. It's pretty solid overall, though it is probably only of interest to collectors and devoted followers of the band.