Skids “Scared to Dance” 1979. The debut album from Scottish punks, Skids, who formed in ’77 (they put out a s/t EP in ’77). It skews rock/new wave on the punk spectrum. I wondered why they sounded so much like fellow Scots Big Country: soaring and anthemic guitar and vocals over a pounding, almost militaristic beat, and then realized that Skids co-founder/guitarist/singer Stuart Adamson started Big Country in ’81 after leaving Skids. The opener of Scared to Dance, “Into the Valley,” really highlights those sounds; it’s a great track and Skids first big hit, going to #10 in the UK. It also falls into the Scot stereotype of being totally unintelligible – so much so that it was hilariously used in a Maxell tape commercial with misprinted lyrics.

Other highlights on Scared to Dance include “The Saints Are Coming” which first charted in ’78 when it went to #48 in the UK when Skids released it as a single. U2 and Green Day covered “The Saints Are Coming” in 2006 at the Louisiana Superdome after Hurricane Katrina and the sales of the recorded performance went to benefit Music Rising, a charity to help musicians affected by the hurricane. “The Saints Are Coming” continues to be played at home football games in New Orleans. A studio version of U2/Green Day’s version was also released in 2006 and it was nominated for a Grammy. I also really like the title track “Scared to Dance,” which is a great punk/new wave banger with abrupt tempo changes and a killer riff as well as “Calling the Tune” which is grinding, hypnotic and dark punctuated with that soaring, almost bagpipe-ish guitar sound that characterizes these Scots’ sound.