Difficult as it is to believe today, there was a time when Vancouver's underground music scene was truly underground. In the late '70s you didn't see the cream of the city's indie-music crop popping up on Pitchfork or gracing the pages of Rolling Stone. It's gratifying, then, to see such seminal acts as the Pointed Sticks, D.O.A., the Dishrags, U-J3RK5S, Subhumans, Wasted Lives, and a whole host more finally getting their due with the CD release of Vancouver Complication. An era-defining landmark, the compilation of first-wave punk and new-wave acts--first released in 1979 and out of print for over two decades--laid the groundwork for what's today one of the most fertile music scenes in North America. Even if you failed the subject in Grade 11, you can't deny that it's important to know your history. Pick up Vancouver Complication at Zulu or Scratch then make plans to be at the WISE Hall for a reunion show/Food Bank benefit this Saturday (February 19). That way you'll know all the words when D.O.A. joins a reformed Dishrags, Rude Norton, the Shades, No Fun, and more for a stomp down memory lane.