I’m single again and it was Saturday. Brooklyn Vegan pointed out that The Dirtbombs from Detroit, Michigan were playing a block party in Tribeca at 3pm in the afternoon. It was sponsored by a company called Shinola , a Detroit company that makes watches.  Between this and the recently unveiled Nokia SmartWatch, somehow I’m now aware that people still wear watches.

I first came in contact with Mick Collins at Maxwell’s in Hoboken somewhere around 1990 (possibly 1989) when his amazing band the Gories opened a show for a less memorable band, since I really can’t recall who it was.  I had never seen anything like it and to be honest I was pretty shocked by their messy assault, at first.  I thought they were terrible.  How did they even get the gig?  I thought their black singer obviously had a great voice, like a vintage soul man – but I was just not ready for the trash heap, which I found overpowering from a conceptual perspective.  Jarring.  But like many tastes, you acquire them.  Any Captain Beefheart fan will tell you that.  And I’ve been a fan of Mick Collins for awhile, through the great Blacktop record and now his shit with The Dirtbombs

I first heard the Dirtbombs with their Ultraglide in Black LP, one of the best rock albums to come out around the time of 9/11 -2001.  I also saw them live around that time and they were damn heavy — but then I lost track of what they were doing. They put out a record that was all techno covers and they sorta lost me.  I stopped giving a shit.

BUT CHRIST ON A CRACKER THEY ARE BACK!  The new record is a 60s bubblegum tribute and they sound great again.  I was intrigued by a sample I heard (see Soundcloud embedded below).  The full album is available for streaming on Spin.

Anyway, I got on my bike and weaved through endless tourist cattle walking on the Brooklyn Bridge.  I got to Franklin Street just as the Dirtbombs were about to go on. Good timing.  And they sounded fucking great. The show was way too quick but they exceeded most benchmarks for “rocking at street fairs”.  Also, considering Mick was playing a cheap ass Squier Strat with a lone fuzzbox.  Look, I have some issues with Stratocasters, both their sound and also sometimes the people who choose to play them — but he pulled it off anyway. Great version of Sly Stone’s Underdog (YouTube below).  Heavy and to-the-point, or way too short, both.  About 30 minutes. An autumn afternoon rock treat.