"My Sharona" may have been The Knack's biggest hit, an iconic slab of late-'70s power pop that dominated the airwaves in 1979. Yet The Knack was much more. Its record label pushed the band as the second coming of The Beatles, causing a backlash. But that had little to do with the quality of The Knack's songs or its sharp, powerful instrumental abilities. These rough live recordings from the Whisky a Go-Go and Doug Weston's Troubadour club circa 1978 prove just how exciting and capable these guys were before a record label ever offered a contract. The songs are already in place: "My Sharona," "Good Girls Don't" (from the band's debut, Get the Knack), "End of the Game" and "(Havin' A) Rave Up" (from the follow-up, …But the Little Girls Understand), and even "Art War," which appeared on the band's third album, Round Trip. Two excellent tunes that never made it to a studio album—"Here on This Lonely Night" and "Evil Lies"—are played with aggression and precision, along with covers of Jay & The Americans' "Come a Little Bit Closer" and Adam Faith's 1964 hit "It's Alright." It's an exemplary, even punkish, live set.