Considering Mick Collins' lengthy garage-rock
pedigree, it's hard not to use the g-word when describing his current band. But
10 years on, The Dirtbombs have grown into a powerhouse no garage can contain. We
Have You Surrounded,
the group's fourth album, is by far its slickest and most deliberate; immaculately
trimmed and fitted, it sculpts fuzz and sludge into glam-shaped, pop-drizzled
nuggets. Collins and crew stretch Surrounded's serrated hooks and
soulful growls with two covers that bookend the band's weird spectrum: "Fire In
The Western World" by Portland's venerable, scruffy Dead Moon is given a bath
in acid and razorblades, while Sparks' new-wave classic "Sherlock Holmes" devolves
into something T. Rex might have gnawed. Even odder, "Leopardman At C&A;"
uses surreal imagery written by graphic novelist Alan Moore—lyrics
originally intended for Bauhaus. Throw in some science-fiction static,
horror-show echoes, and bubblegum choruses, and Surrounded winds up far more daring
than any album pigeonholed as retro has any right to be. The experimentation
falls flat in places, but it's still exhilarating to hear something as stock as
garage-rock fed through the Play-Doh Fun Factory of Collins' deranged brain.