The Dirtbombs: We Have You Surrounded

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.