In the early 1980s, lots of musicians claimed to be mixing punk and jazz, but few had the insouciant charm of Ed Kuepper's Laughing Clowns. As the founder of Australia's Saints – the first punk band to chart in Britain – Kuepper could have grown old disgracefully, but split to form Laughing Clowns, adding harsh brass sounds to a loose-limbed rock template. Kuepper tried to croon, drummer Jeffrey Wegener floated freely all over the kit, and a succession of sax players suggested Archie Shepp going garage punk . Here is a beautiful three-cd collection of everything the Laughing Clowns recorded from 1979 to 1984. It makes most other bands sound cowardly.

**** 4 stars

Review by SL.