Second Time Around

The Blasters made some great records in the early '80s, and you'll find all of them in this must-have compilation. Believe me, if you've never heard them before, you'll find out why the Blasters, along with X, Black Flag, and maybe Flipper, were once the cream of West Coast punk.

The band played what they called American music – roots rock, as it was later dubbed when the industry had to name it. But back then, in the warm embrace of the Blasters, it was simply electrifying music. A typical Blasters set featured intricately crafted tunes that combined the economy of Brill Building singles, the heart of the blues, the passion of R&B, and the upbeat energy of rockabilly and early rock and roll. They weren't alone in mining the past for music, but they were instrumental in popularizing the sound.

The Blasters – originally guitarist-songwriter Dave Alvin, his brother, singer Phil Alvin, bassist John Bazz, and drummer Bill Bateman; later to include pianist Gene Taylor and saxophonists Lee Allen and Steve Berlin – managed to be huge in the West Coast punk scene without ever being punks themselves. They were spikeless, friendly, and older than most everyone; their music didn't fit the shorter, faster, louder sound of the day, and unlike most of the pack, they could really play. What they shared with the punks was a contrary spirit and a search for musical truth untainted by the music industry.

It's too easy to say, looking back, that Dave Alvin's songwriting genius was the band's lifeblood. The fact is, they were a band, with a rock-solid rhythm section and a vocalist with a rich, emotive voice. Still, Alvin's sepia-toned odes to the bittersweet pleasures of a blue-collar life – he was a first-class romantic whose three-and-a-half-minute narratives bore witness and lent dignity to the lives of working stiffs – put a fix on the band's own roots and personal concerns, and they made up a body of work that remains as finely etched as any in pop music. They grew up in the battered working-class suburbs of southeast L.A., an area that put them within hearing distance of the hoods that produced the music that inspired them, and you can hear it in everything they played.