10 previously unreleased, live, or rare songs by France’s best surf rock band The IRRADIATES. “All You Need Is… Transmutation” puts you right into the band’s vintage sci-fi world with some strident punked-up surf rock. “Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die” is a great song title, and no wonder that you can hear the DEAD KENNEDYS‘ spirit in it. The IRRADIATES have never been a trad surf band, but they sometimes get close to it in songs like “Ca$h” or “Dr. Holidays.”
While the tracks are mostly instrumental, you’ll hear some vocals in “Slide Machine” (13th ELEVATORS cover with JERRY SPIDER GANG‘s vocalist Lo as a guest), “Everything Turns Grey” (live AGENT ORANGE cover with Mike Palm guesting on vocals!), or in “Knowledge From Abroad” that surprisingly almost sounds like a FUGAZI song.
This record comes out in a cool gatefold cover, including notes about each song and black and white pictures of the producers/audio engineers who worked on these songs. Good job again, guys! /Laurent C.
Veglam 