DIRTBOMBS with the
EXPLODERS and the FLAME
JOBS at the El Mocambo, April 27.
Tickets: $8. Attendance: 80. Rating:
NNN Rating: NNN
with the release of the new
Dirtbombs garage opus, Ultraglide In Black, just weeks away, the El Mocambo return of the double-drum-equipped Detroit dementos was expected to be a rousing preview of astonishing things to come. Well, that was the plan.
Seconds into the Dirtbombs’ opening salvo, following a blasting barrage from the Exploders, who’ve got a new disc of their own on deck, Mick Collins busted a guitar string. It wasn’t a major problem for Collins, who’s never been that fussy about such trivialities as tuning he just grabbed his backup axe and they were off again.
Then — sproiiing — another string gone. It was over to the auxiliary guitar. One shouted chorus later, snap went nickel-wound number three. The Exploders’ Craig Daniels, noticing that Collins was fresh out of instruments, offered up his Gibson SG, which Collins gratefully strapped on. But the string hassles seemed to throw the rest of the Dirtbombs off their game.
Instead of focusing on the rowdy R&B covers from their forthcoming album, they reverted to the old stomps they knew best. They continued working backwards — right through to sloppy stabs at the Who’s The Kids Are Alright and the Raiders’ Kicks — before calling it a night with a threat to come back with a proper blowout. Promises, promises.
