Mick Collins is a force of nature. His first major band, The Gories, are one of the most classic of all garage-rock bands. After they broke up, he started up The Dirtbombs (mid-90's), who continue to perform and record. They are from Detroit and are known for putting on unforgettable live shows and for releasing a good stack of excellent records with some variation in musical style. So far they have put out 4 CDs and a 2-disc collection of singles. Mick is also involved in all kinds of side projects and collaborations.
Someone turned me on to The Gories around 2007 or so. I liked them right away - actual rock and roll music, sort of a rarity these days. One day in 2009, frustrated with the vast anti-rock'n'roll movement that seems to have infected this place (the Flaming Lips live here), I went in to Guestroom Records to see if they might happen to have a Gories CD. Travis replies "Yes we do - we keep them all in stock. And if you like them, you need to check out the Dirtbombs". So I picked up I Know You Fine But How You Doin'/I Know You Be Houserockin', 2 Gories records on one disc, and If You Don't Already Have a Look, a 2-disc collection of Dirtbombs singles. I can listen to the Gories CD over and over. Its like a study in pure, essential, primal rock and roll. Mick on guitar and vocals along with another guitar and drums. The Dirtbombs are a bit wilder and maybe more advanced and experimental. Mick is backed by 2 basses (one is fuzz) and 2 drummers. This singles collection has some variety to it, and I don't always like to hear everything on there, but a lot of the songs stand out. And I mean like bigtime - there are some really strong songs there. My favorite is the 2nd song, Sharpest Claws. So after digesting this for awhile and being really excited to discover some cool new music and finding proof that rock and roll is alive, I went back for more. This time I picked up Dangerous Magical Noise. Starts out with a really wild one, yikes - is this going to be too intense? But then the songs seemed like one hit after another. Wow - this is some cool stuff! My favorite is the 4th song, Sunny Day. This is a very powerful record! If the radio was still alive, there would be hits from The Dirtbombs all over it. A week or so later, I went back for Ultraglide in Black. On first listen I guess it wasn't what I expected, but it hit me the second time, and then I had to listen to it over and over, with different songs captivating me each time.
So one night I'm thinking this logo for In The Red looks familiar, don't I have something else on that label. Hey wait a minute, I've got a couple of Andre Williams CDs - yeah they're on In The Red, and look at that, they're both produced by Mick Collins. He plays all over on Silky, and the Dirtbombs are on a couple of songs on The Godfather. Silky has some of the coolest, rawest rock'n'roll you can find. I remember back when I picked this up, thinking - "Who are these people backing this guy up? I need to find more of this." A lot of people play on it, but the bulk of it is Mick Collins and Dan Kroha, who is the other guitar player in the Gories. So now I know why that record sounds so cool.
Well, I still have more Dirtbombs to get to, and Mick has also been involved in Blacktops and Screws. And there is another Gories record waiting for me too. Plus - they have led me to the Detroit Cobras! Its so cool to find something else to be excited about in this crazy world.
Some Links:
Myspace - myspace.com/thedirtbombs
Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dirtbombs
In The Red Records - www.intheredrecords.com
The Records:
(perhaps coming soon)
Back to Slade's Favorite Music Page
Slade's Music Page
Slade's Home Page
This Page Revised 06/03/09 First Posted 05/12/09