Can't Stand the Rezillos: The (Almost) Complete Rezillos in Bloomington, MN

The 1993 re-release of
the Rezillos
' sole album as such lives up to its name perfectly --
Can't Stand the Rezillos: The (Almost) Complete Rezillos
is indeed almost the complete collection of work that the band officially released during its heyday-of-
punk
lifetime. As such it's an absolute killer, divided between the original
Can't Stand the Rezillos
album and the live
Mission Accomplished
album, along with both sides of the
"Destination Venus"
/
"Mystery Action"
single.
Ira Robbins
' detailed and appreciative band history also makes note of what's missing for completists' sakes -- the original recording of
"I Can't Stand My Baby,"
a remake of
the Beatles
'
"I Wanna Be Your Man,"
"20,000 Rezillos Under the Sea,"
and the single version of
"Top of the Pops."
There's one other excision -- the live
had to be dropped from
to fit everything else on the disc. But the end result really can't be argued with -- the remastering of the studio tracks is solid, the live tracks, while not recorded as clearly as they could have been, get shined up as best as they can. The bemusing killer touch is
J Mascis
's brief scrawl of appreciation -- if anything, he maintains his reputation for being as reticent in print as he is in real life (but his claim that this could be the best bass playing on the
Sire
label is probably accurate). ~ Ned Raggett