Another hot
punk
nostalgia artifact. When this L.A. quartet's lone LP, the
Joan Jett
-produced
(GI)
, was released in 1979, no one could conceive a
Germs
anthology, but history has proven the vitality of the maligned West Coast late-'70s
explosion. "Copying the English" was the putdown du jour, but after similar retrospectives on
the Weirdos
,
Dils
Avengers
Zeros
Crime
, and so on,
(MIA)
answers that fraud again. On their first two singles (one the very first
Slash
record!), these crazy, inept juveniles had no clue. But when
"No God"
(with its anti-
Yes
"Roundabout"
intro) and
's vicious, scorching
"What Do We Do Is Secret"
crash in, the effect is still startling. These heretofore churlish, charming vagrants and louts had suddenly lassoed the beast.
Darby Crash
snarls like
the Screamers
'
Tomato Du Plenty
over
Pat Smear
's lashing guitar and
Don Bolles
' hyper power-drums -- his voice is primal, raw, and animalistic grunting, yet the lyrics reveal a brutal social critic hiding amid the total mess, chaos, drugs, and 1980 suicide-at-22 that characterized his "too fast, too soon" life. No "beat on the brat" here.
"Communist Eyes,"
"Land of Treason,"
and
"Media Blitz"
are testaments to disaffection, wild desire, and disdain in words and sound, desperate calls to arms that still resonate years later. And
-- which tacks on other rare tracks, including some from the long-lost
Cruising
film
soundtrack
, making this CD 30 songs in all! -- has no "cool" pose. They were just having fun, but they were the real thing, and it burns. ~ Jack Rabid