The Brian Jonestown Massacre - The Singles Collection (1992-2011) (a records)

Brian Jonestown Massacre leader Anton Newcombe has long been a polarizing figure, but setting aside those things that have no bearing on the music, it’s sometimes forgotten that the man makes some utterly wonderful music. The no-frills title of The Singles Collection 1992-2011 serves a purpose long-overdue: a compilation of his band’s wonderful, obscure, and highly collectible slices of vinyl. While Brian Jonestown Massacre albums often explore myriad sounds and ideas, the imposing limits of a seven-inch slice of vinyl ensures that a band must work with a smaller palate, and thus it’s no surprise that some of these songs are easily among Newcombe and company’s best work.

For a band that is steeped in the tradition of psychedelic and garage rock, these are little slices of three-to-five minutes of mind-blowing, and often downright beautiful, music. There’s a reason that you’re going to pay a pretty penny for these singles, too—once you’ve heard songs like the powerful debut single “She Made Me” or its follow-up “Convertible,” you really won’t want to let these things go. Those lucky enough to grab these up knew that what Anton and company had to offer was the real deal.

Highlights include:

“Evergreen,” the b-side to the band’s debut single, an atmospheric new-wave number that is longer and darker than the version found on the band’s debut album, and features some wonderful male-female vocal exchange

“Anemone,” a staple of the band’s live set, here appearing in a rougher, rawer—and, frankly, more powerful—version than that found on Their Satanic Majesties’ Second Request; featuring the vocals of Mara Keagle, Anton and company gives Mazzy Star a run for its money

“Not If You Were the Last Dandy on Earth,” Matt Hollywood‘s tribute to his friends, The Dandy Warhols, and a song that borrows from the Dandys’ style

“This Is Why You Love Me,” proof that you don’t need two minutes to express your loving emotions in a song

“Nailing Honey to the Tree,” a quick three-minute number taken from a later single.

I could break down the remaining seventeen songs, but I won’t do that, because I don’t want to rob you of the pleasure of listening and discovering the magic found here.

Concluding the set are four songs of special interest. Two, “Illuminami” and “There’s A War Going On,” are from the band’s most recent single, released earlier this year. “Illuminami” finds Newcombe and company in fine form, and it shows a band that has progressed and matured quite nicely over the last twenty years, but yet not straying too much from its pure, early days. The b-side is a cover of a Bobby Jameson song, political in nature and crunchy and raw in sound, tying the future with the past by singing 40-year-old lyrics that are more relevant to today than they were in the decade it was written.


But the thing drawing collectors are the final two songs, “Thoughts of You” and “Never Ever,” released under the name Acid. Both songs appeared in a super-limited edition vinyl box set, entitled The Tangible Box, and both are quiet, atmospheric ballads, both darker than most of his work, and very reminiscent of early 1970s Rolling Stones.

It’s an interesting way to end—looking back at a side project, whilst highlighting the band’s most current work. It only shows that Anton has made some great music and, to paraphrase the words of his song “The Godspell According to A.A. Newcombe,” though he’s getting older, I’m sure that he’s not through.