British band Europeans would have been one of the first post-punk bands if not for the fact that they actually formed in 1977, while punk was still in its first flowering. Ahead of their time to a striking degree, they presaged much of what was to come in the late-’70s/early-’80s U.K. music scene. During their short lifetime, they only released a handful of singles, but in the last few years, posthumous collections have begun appearing, of which Voices is the fourth. Though the tracks here bear a rough-edged, DIY quality, their combination of punky energy, quirky pop sensibilities, and melodic synth lines was new wave before the term existed, evoking the early work of everyone from XTC and Ultravox to the Human League and Magazine. If an album like Voices would have appeared back in the late ’70s, it would likely have put Europeans (don’t confuse them with early-’80s new wavers The Europeans) on the radar of an audience larger than a few hundred rabid record collectors. The members of the band went on to greener pastures with Specimen, Siouxsie & The Banshees, and Interview, but it’s a treat to be able to enjoy the fruits of their early labors so much more extensively than the band themselves ever might have imagined during their brief career.

www.limewire.com