Pitchfork

Let's face it; for one of punk's most combustible forces, the Sex Pistols' catalog leaves a lot to be desired. Seriously, one genre-defining album, a hodgepodge soundtrack, and a shitty live reunion disc don't an endearing legacy make.

But we're digging out the Aqua Net and dog collars in this goddamn summer heat because the Pistols' legendary 1977 bootleg Spunk is being released for the first time officially on CD today on Castle. (The U.S. will see it on August 15). Originally pressed to (illegal) vinyl during the band's heyday, this early Pistols collection reveals a massively important early chapter in the legendary band's strange history-- what with its pre-burn out/sell out poignancy and all.

Or as a statement on the Castle website kindly elaborates: "This is the real sound of the Sex Pistols. Back in 1977, the Spunk bootleg captured the authentic aural assault of punk's premier protagonists, more than a year before they released their first legal LP. Spunk has gone down in history as the finest British punk record, and this anniversary edition recaptures all the sonic thrill of the Pistols at their peak.

More specifically, the official Spunk release offers early versions of such genre-defining classics as "Pretty Vacant," "God Save the Queen," and "Anarchy in the UK" (each boasting their original, less inflammatory titles), which appear across the original album's 12-song running order, as well as three additional bonus tracks.

Unlimited supply:

01 Seventeen
02 Satellite
03 Feelings (aka No Feelings)
04 Just Me (aka I Wanna Be Me)
05 Submission
06 Nookie (aka Anarchy In The U.K.)
07 No Future (alias God Save The Queen)
08 Problems
09 Lots Of Fun (aka Pretty Vacant)
10 Liar
11 Who Was It (aka EMI)
12 Looking For A Kiss (aka New York)
13 Anarchy In The Uk (Denmark Street Demo, July 76) *
14 Pretty Vacant (Denmark Street Demo, July 76) *
15 No Fun (Unedited Version, Oct 76) *

* Bonus Tracks

And for the collectors, the album will be issued on both CD and vinyl, with the hot wax pressing limited to 1000 individually numbered copies.