Transplants - Police State (CD)

All Music Guide

Not to be confused with the punkpop supergroup led by Rancid's Tim Armstrong and Blink182's Travis Barker, these Transplants were among the first punk bands in the eventual punk stronghold of Boston. Overshadowed in their heyday first by the garagepop leanings of the Real Kids and Jeff Connolly's DMZ, and then by the twisted artpunk of the Girls and Mission of Burma, the Transplants were never really a firststring band, and they were all but unknown outside of the Highway 128 corridor. This 27 track compilation of live and studio tracks, with some rehearsals and demos thrown in, is both exhaustive and rather exhausting. Four takes on the band's signature song, the nothingspecial thrash of "Suicidal Tendencies," is three too many. On the other hand, the band did have a good line in '60s garage covers, with versions of the Starfires' "I Never Loved Her" and the Sonics' "Strychnine" (a Boston punk classic tackled by seemingly everyone eventually) standing had and shoulders above the band'...s derivative originals. Boston rock historians and nostalgists will enjoy this collection, but it's a bit much for anyone else. - Stewart Mason, All Music Guide Read more Less