The Cunts (or C*nts) latched severely onto ’60s punk long before (or after) it was fashionable, steadfastly refusing to budge any way but laterally ever since, even as nominally parallel bands nationwide (and wider) have “discovered” the ’70s, glitter, funk, metal, you-name-it. It Came from Out of the Garage is awash in grungy guitars, pumping keys and sneering attitudes, but sorely lacks the spark of inspiration that distinguished the band’s obvious antecedents, like the Standells, Count Five, ? and the Mysterians, etc.
A Decade of Fun, by dint of its scattered sources, paints a slightly more varied portrait of the Chicago quintet — quirkier and less tunnel-visioned, consequently higher in its peaks and more turgid in its depths. At best, the early singles (some of which make up Side One), the band echoes the sort of jagged ’60s revisionism that characterized Cleveland in the mid-to-late-’70s. The later (previously unreleased) tracks on Side Two subtract most of the edginess from the equation, adding a poppier slant in direct proportion to the year of recording.