Relics＜限定盤＞

When DMZ made their debut on Sire, it was as disappointing as major-label debuts by fellow Bostonians Private Lightning, the Nervous Eaters, and Willie Alexander's Boom Boom Band. As Alexander's locally produced demos by Dr. & the Medics madman Craig Leon (who also produced the Ramones) were superior to the final product by Willie on MCA (also produced by Leon), the Turtles' wacky Flo & Eddie just didn't know what to do with DMZ. Four Craig Leon-produced tracks released on BOMP -- which is the parent company of Voxx -- and five demo tapes that were recorded on four-track comprise this excellent collection. "When I Get Off" was the number two Garage Record of the Year in 1978 in Boston's Real Paper, and it is a psychedelic masterpiece. The dueling guitars, slashing riff, and great Corraccio bass complement Mono Mann aka Jeff Connolly's blitzkrieg vocals. Here is a slice of pyschedlia that is the fans outdoing the bands they idolize. Also, as with Willie Alexander's demos, it seems Craig Leon did a much better job on smaller budgets. The lyrics are sexist, but fun in "Barracuda" -- definitely not the Heart song -- "Lift up Your Hood," and the aforementioned "When I Get Off." There is also a cool cover of Roky Erickson's "You're Gonna Miss Me" and a fantastic album jacket of the band photographed at what looks like the Rat nightclub inside a red background covered in barbed wire fence. There's even a cool inside joke, Bomb records instead of Bomp, the famous label founded by Greg Shaw. A definite statement about the heart and soul of demos having a special something major-label homogenization fails to establish. Rudy Martinez of Question Mark & the Mysterians has even covered a Connally composition written for Mono Mann Jeff's current group, the Lyres. ~ Joe Viglione