Japandroids

For most people, the emergence of Japandroids began with last year's debut album, Post-Nothing. But if you've seen them play, or even just peeked at their Wikipedia page, you'll know there is more than just an LP. No Singles compiles ten of the Vancouver duo's pre-Nothing songs originally released as two EPs ― 2007's All Lies and 2008's Lullaby Death Jams ― both of which were limited to only 500 copies. Sequenced in chronological order, No Singles captures the band at their humblest and noisiest. "Darkness On The Edge of Gastown" is as much a calling card as the band have in their oeuvre: a bleak love song based in their hometown that convulses in a crashing upsurge of cymbals and fuzz. Both "Press Corps" and "No Allegiance to the Queen," with its cries of "we need air," build up stirring momentum that let the good times fly off the handle. The effervescent, en Français of "Coutre Suicide," more than any of their songs, brings out the best of their pop songwriting abilities, while the first number they ever recorded, a cover of Mclusky's "To Hell With Good Intentions," does plenty of justice honouring one of their most obvious influences. Accompanied by a 32-page booklet detailing the band's beginnings, No Singles is a flattering look at the band's roots that can hold its own against their classic-in-the-making debut. Anyone craving more anthems for disaffected youth look no further.