The Long Ryders – The Long Ryders Anthology

If you ever get the chance, check out the cover to the Long Ryders’ debut EP, the cryptically titled 10-5-60. Looming large in country-rock duds and moppy Buffalo Springfield hairdos under a spindly tree, them L.A. transplants had a serious retro-fetish happening. The five tunes suggested the same — a supercharged mix of ’60s psychedelia, garage-rock and Parsons twang. Such sounds weren’t necessarily new, at least not to those who had experienced the Byrds, the Seeds and others, but Amer-indie kids weren’t complaining. Once needle hit vinyl, 10-5-60 electrified the room. Duds and all, the Long Ryders were groovy cool.

While not necessarily their best effort — that claim is best made for the full-length follow-up Native Sons — 10-5-60 did serve as the Long Ryders’ edict. Everything that followed skirted along similar lines. The Long Ryders Anthology documents that, from the first nervous riff of the EP’s title track to the strains of 1987’s Two Fisted Tales, their fourth and final effort.

Spanning two discs and 40 songs, this excellent collection documents the sturdy vision and solid output of Sid Griffin, Stephen McCarthy, Tom Stevens, Greg Sowders, and, briefly, original member Des Brewer. Highlights include the begging-to-be-covered cow-punkin’ “You Don’t Know What’s Right, You Don’t Know What’s Wrong”, the outlaw-themed pop of “Lights Of Downtown” and the visceral “I Had A Dream”, a blistering epic with lyrics that echo Martin Luther King Jr. and a raga-like guitar outro that sounds plucked from another world.

The uninitiated may find in this a new obsession, but old fans will recognize that the Long Ryders have aged pretty darn well for a band that looked and sounded worn to begin with. However, the collection, which includes revealing liner notes by Griffin and scribe David Fricke, is not without flaws. Mostly, some of the best tunes from State Of Our Union are left behind (and in this case they’re truly left behind, as Anthology is the band’s only title in print domestically), presumably omitted to make room for a dozen or so rarities and (occasionally clunky) demos. The decision is redeemed via moments such as “Christmas In New Zealand”, originally a fan-club-only flexi-single that shows a welcome, wacky side of the band, and the folksy “If I Were A Bramble And You Were A Rose” — originally a B-side, but easily one of the Long Ryders’ most gorgeous efforts.