The Insaints were for people who thought the
Plasmatics were a bunch of poseur wimps. Singer Marian Anderson most often performed completely nude -- none of those coy electrical-tape nipple covers for her! -- and unlike
Wendy O. Williams, her on-stage sex acts were rarely simulated. The main difference between Anderson and
Williams, however, is that unlike
Williams, Anderson was actually a very good punk singer, with the assertiveness of
Poly Styrene or
Romeo Void's
Debora Iyall matched to an icy self-control that probably also helped a lot in her supposed day job as a dominatrix. Even without the eyebrow-raising aspects of Anderson's look and background, the 20-track compilation
Sins of Saints is an entirely solid overview of a band whose brand of meat and potatoes garage punk was either 15 years too late or ten years too early. Co-leader Daniel DeLeon was thoroughly old-school in his influences, as shown by the covers of "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" and
the Stooges' "1969" as well as the general
Dead Boys/
Avengers three-chord feel of the songs. Song titles like "Whore" and "Good Girl, Bad Girl" might sound like cheap self-exploitation, but the music behind Anderson's in-your-face lyrical and vocal persona stands up on its own merits.
Sins of Saints is a welcome overview of an all-but-forgotten early-'90s punk band.