Along with the Sex Pistols and the Clash, The Damned – the greatest surviving British punk band bar none – helped spearhead the punk movement in the U.K. and were the first punk act to release a single back in 1976. Where their peers either burnt out, or faded away into mediocrity, this most spiritually chaotic of all punk groups have never been away, never surrendered their ideals, always forged onwards.

From 1977’s high-energy entrée Damned Damned Damned, via the riotous variety of Machine Gun Etiquette(1979), to the macabre psychedelia of 1985’s Phantasmagoria and beyond, The Damned have never stayed in one place for long. Colorful, anarchic, yet propelled by an indefatigably urgent creative motor, they’ve evolved and expanded their remit with every phase, to become one of the top-flight UK groups of any pop era. As their career developed they became one of the first gothic rock bands and were a major influence on the goth subculture. They’ve had nine UK Top 40 hit singles during their illustrious career and their latest album Evil Spirits(2018) became their first top ten.

The band curated Black Is the Night: The Definitive Anthology is The Damned’s most comprehensive collection to date. In addition to the pioneering “New Rose” single the 39-track offering includes such further Top 40 singles as “Neat, Neat, Neat” (featured on the critically-acclaimed soundtrack of the 2017 film Baby Driver), “Love Song,” “Smash It Up” and “Eloise.”