The Stranglers’ true influence has always been underrated. Goth before it was codified as such in their all black uniforms, the Guildford misfits quickly transcended the gnarly pub rock scene that spawned them, marking out their uniqueness via Dave Greenfield’s swirly psychedelic keys and JJ Burnel’s muscular, upfront bass (a major influence on Joy Division’s Peter Hook, who copied down his exact set-up at a Bingley Hall show). Both were to the fore on the pulsing lead single from 1978’s third album Black And White. Singer/guitarist Hugh Cornwell’s snarling lyric and its suggestive title were not the only provocations as they put a victim of the Boston strangler on the single’s cover and, a little later, employed strippers to dance onstage to it at an outdoor Battersea Park show. By far the shortest Stranglers song at one minute and six seconds, ‘Shut Up’ seemed to condense all their snarling energy into one pogo-friendly attack. A Tardis of a song that somehow sneaks in two verses, two choruses and a great wobbly synth solo before cutting off abruptly at the end in a grand kiss-off to their roots. It would be remiss to talk Stranglers B-sides without mentioning the late night dread of ‘In The Shadows’ [‘No More Heroes’, 1977] and their duet with camp trad jazzer and bon vivant George Melly, ‘Old Codger’ [‘Walk On By’, 1978]. Custom written for Melly’s BBC2 Arena documentary about surrealism The Journey, it carried more than a mild whiff of sexual threat and boasted an inimitable payoff: “I always keep my socks on!”