The Glasgow School

1	Falling and Laughing 3:59
2	Moscow 2:01
3	Moscow Olympics 2:07
4	Blue Boy 2:54
5	Lovesick 2:27
6	Simply Thrilled Honey 2:43
7	Breakfast Time 1:56
8	Poor Old Soul, Pt. 1 2:29
9	Poor Old Soul, Pt. 2 2:37
10	Louise Louise 2:51
11	Three Cheers for Our Side 2:52
12	(To Put It in A) Nutshell 4:05
13	Satellite City 2:43
14	Consolation Prize 3:10
15	Holiday Hymn 3:00
16	Intuition Told Me, Pt. 1 1:13
17	Intuition Told Me, Pt. 2 3:23
18	Wan Light 2:32
19	Dying Day 3:10
20	Texas Fever 1:44
21	Tender Object 4:40
22	Blokes on 45 previously unreleased 4:26
23	I Don't Care previously unreleased 3:07

Barnes & Noble

Four young lads from Glasgow, Scotland, send scenesters into a tizzy with their arty mélange of scrappy guitars, disco beats, witty wordplay, and tailored fashion sense. Does that sound familiar? It's not who you think. Twenty-five years before Franz Ferdinand took us out, Orange Juice were "The Sound of Young Scotland" with aspirations of becoming the punk rock version of Chic. Recording three albums for major label Polydor, the band nearly achieved this goal with their 1983 UK hit "Rip It Up." For the most part, however, success eluded Orange Juice, who had to settle for cult status and never had a record out in America -- until now. The Glasgow School compiles the entire output of their early years on influential Scottish indie Postcard -- tunes that served as a blueprint for such followers as the Pastels, Belle & Sebastian, and, yes, Franz Ferdinand. Singer Edwyn Collins's weird warble of a voice hadn't yet developed into the crooning baritone that would make his 1995 worldwide smash, "A Girl Like You," so appealing, and the guitars seemed perpetually out of tune. This all gave A-sides like "Blueboy," "Felicity," and "Poor Old Soul" an undeniable shambolic charm. In addition to those coveted singles, The Glasgow School delivers Orange Juice's scrapped first album, Ostrich Churchyard -- most of which would later resurface in more polished (though not necessarily better) form as their official debut, You Can't Hide Your Love Forever -- plus a couple rarities that have never appeared on any other compilation. With packaging worthy of display, a booklet featuring rare photographs, and extensive liner notes from original drummer (and current Entertainment Weekly staffer) Steven Daly, The Glasgow School is essential listening. Bill Pearis

All Music Guide

Orange Juice's three albums, along with compilations of various shapes and sizes, have floated in and out of print throughout the years. This hasn't made it convenient for anyone curious about the band, whether the interest was sparked by Haircut 100, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand, the unlikely mainstream success of Edwyn Collins' "A Girl Like You," the history of post-punk, or the birth of indie pop. The Glasgow School, released in 2005 by Domino, contains the band's four singles for Postcard, the bulk of Ostrich Churchyard (a disc released in 1992, containing early versions of what would become 1982's You Can't Hide Your Love Forever), a Stars on 45-style version of "Simply Thrilled Honey," and a crude cover of the Ramones' "I Don't Care." For a lot of people, the material here (dating no later than 1981) is where Orange Juice begins and ends. The band signed to Polydor soon after the latest song on this disc was recorded, and they promptly gave their sound a coat of shiny wax -- so they helped invent indie pop, only to abandon it before their first album. Though the notion extends throughout Orange Juice's discography, they were nothing if not fearless. What other way is there to describe lyrics like "I wore my fringe like Roger McGuinn's/I was hoping to impress/So frightfully camp -- you laughed," or their wholly convincing (if occasionally gawky) way of bouncing the jangly folk-rock of the Byrds off the fat-bottomed disco drive of Chic, all the while creating an identity all their own? Both the singles and the Ostrich Churchyard takes are as crafty as they are crude, and if you can't get past the amateurishness, there's plenty of winsome attitude to win you over. This disc serves as proof that, along with Josef K, Associates, Altered Images, Simple Minds, Cocteau Twins, and the Scars, Orange Juice helped make Scotland a very productive resource during the post-punk/new wave era. Andy Kellman

Rolling Stone

1/2 The sound of a bright young scene being born right in front of you. David Fricke