Party Store

(In the Red)

Few genres are as staunchly purist as garage rock; that goes for both artists and fans. Devotees typically view deviations from the Pebbles/Nuggets template with suspicion, if not outright scorn. So the Dirtbombs' decision to cover nine Detroit techno classics is a bold middle finger to conventionality.

The Dirtbombs have proved to be adept at covers, as the burning R&B/soul homages of 2001's Ultraglide in Black evidenced. Party Store, though, represents an unprecedented reinvention of Motor City techno's driving, metronomic expanses. Using basic rock tools, the Dirtbombs—led by ex-Gories frontman Mick Collins—add an urgent rawness to the chilly majesty of tracks like Cybotron's "Cosmic Cars," Derrick May's "Strings of Life," and DJ Assault's "Tear the Club Up" and the percolating warmth of cuts like Innerzone Orchestra's "Bug in the Bassbin" and Inner City's "Good Life." With Party Store, the Dirtbombs have successfully converted a foreign currency into garage-rock gold. Everyone should cash in on it.