No Singles

Album review

Polyvinyl's No Singles compiles Japandroids' first two out of print EPs, All Lies and Lullabye Death Jams, offering fans a chance to check out the duo in its even looser, post-punk beginnings. As the album title implies, No Singles doesn’t pack in the hits like their excellent full-length debut, Post-Nothing. The early material is ramshackle, with back-and-forth shouts and youthful jubilation, but the songs lack an anchor: the fist-pumping hooks that became Japandroids' calling card. That key ingredient notwithstanding, Brian King and David Prowse display a lot of promise and chemistry in their early stages, and the walloping “Hey! Hey! Hey!” of "Coma Complacency," the chugging harmonic guitar clinks vs. rock ‘em sock ‘em drums in “Darkness on the Edge of Gastown,” and the urgent playground taunts of Mclusky's “To Hell with Good Intentions” will be enough to make hardcore fans very happy. For completists who probably already own the EPs, the bang-up remastering job by John Golden (Nirvana, Melvins) and thick liner notes justify an upgrade.

© Jason Lymangrover /TiVo