From 1978 to 1982, British post-punk also-rans The Lines made records brimming with the early-’80s success checklist: vaguely fey vocals, passable guitar skills, eccentric lyrics, and titles referencing the social upheaval of Thatcher’s Britain. What The Lines lacked was any interest in the music biz–they never toured, and practically insisted on failing to capitalize on any successes. Musically, however, the handful of records The Lines made, all collected here on CD for the first time, provide the missing link between U.K. and U.S. post-punk. Listening to the brilliant “Nerve Pylon” and “Two Split Seconds,” it’s impossible not to hear the DNA of the Athens scene, and indeed all of 1980s American college radio.