**1/2 The Saints, (I'M) STRANDED,

***1/2 The Saints, ETERNALLY YOURS

(Triple X)

Here's a reminder of how fast things happened during the punk explosion of '77: deluxe reissues (cleaner sound, bonus tracks, new liner notes) of the first two albums by the Saints, an Australian quartet who will be releasing a new disc on Triple X next year. The first Saints album has to be the second-crudest album in punk history, after the Ramones' debut. Not only couldn't the Australian quartet play very well, but their writers couldn't write and the producer couldn't produce. So (I'm) Stranded comes off as a three-chord tantrum in the best suburban-brat tradition. "Erotic Neurotic" is the best track because it's the dumbest; it starts as a blatant steal of the Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man" before singer Chris Bailey forgets the words and spends the last verse counting to five.

Flash-forward just six months and the same band turn in a minor classic with Eternally Yours. Suddenly the Saints have polish, great hooks, and even some soul. The opening "Know Your Product" sports the same horn-driven Memphis sound that the Clash would toy with two years later on London Calling. Here the Saints were even grown-up enough to deflate punk fashion ("International Robots"), put across a love song (the 12-string jangly "Untitled"), and write their big youth anthem ("This Perfect Day," one of the great lost punk singles). Bailey hadn't lost his brattiness yet: he still shouts "Come on!" at least twice per song.

-- Brett Milano