This is a great compilation of mostly 60’s era spy movie theme songs (and a few T.V. series themes too). Making a good case for still buying physical media, it features an informative, picture-filled and booklet. Not all of the tracks are the original versions—I suspect there were rights issues—but the replacement choices are good: The Challengers, The Ventures and Johnny & The Hurricanes. There also some great vocal numbers especially Vikki Carr’s “The Silencers” and Nancy Sinatra’s “The Last of the Secret Agents.”

This was a weird import CD when I got it and it turns out there are about two dozen versions of this release in various formats. I always assumed it was a greatest hits compilation since just about every song is great, but I guess this is their first record. Wonderfully minimalist rock that, in hindsight, was extremely influential on many of the indie rock bands I love. The music really skirts the line between novelty songs and serious art rock.

Another fine collection of Trashmen recordings. Not much to add here except that these were all previously unreleased and there’s only one bird themed song included.

The Trashmen were a standout band from the surf era known mostly for their hit, “Surfin’ Bird.” That single captures much of the appeal of the band. They are at their best when they are going crazy and having goofy fun. They will often fall back into covering rock standards like “It’s So Easy” and the result is never as good when they’re doing their own crazy thing. Fortunately, they maintain a high level of stupidity through most of this disc. Oh, and the liner notes are fantastic.

This CD compiles four of the band’s early 7″ singles. This was when the Toy Dolls were at their punkiest. So, despite its short length, Singles 83/84 is good collection of tunes that fills a few gaps missing from the early LPs.

Another new record label and another quick cash in on the band’s older songs. This time it’s a live set from the Wakey Wakey tour. While there’s nothing wrong with this, an actual greatest hits record would be a better purchase.

I got this back when it came out and it was about the only way to get Toy Dolls on CD here in the States (I only had the first LP on vinyl at the time). I absolutely loved it at the time. Now, more than 20 years later, I still like the compilation but I can hear its flaws.

First and foremost these are not the original versions of the songs (in the case of songs from the Idle Gossip, it’s an improvement over that LP’s terrible production). I imagine this was just a way for the new record label to cash in on the band’s early hits without securing the rights to the original recordings (The tracks from Bare Faced Cheek are all the LP versions). For the most part, Toy Dolls are a consistent and professional band so new renditions aren’t going to differ much from the originals. However, listen closely… they are using a drum machine on 90% of the tracks! When I finally noticed this it almost killed this record for me. The drums are just so perfect and sterile sounding, especially when compared to skilled playing on their later records.

That said, it took me a decade to realize that those weren’t real drums. So, if you just want a good overview of some of the band’s finest songs this is a nice place to start.

What’s with the “Z” in Toy Dollz? That was the first sign that this might be a questionable release. In fact I think this was their weakest record. The sound is tinny and the songs just didn’t hook me. There are parts that are okay such as the chorus from “I Loathe You” or the Andrew LLoyd Webber cover, but nothing really jumps out as being great. After this came out I stopped buying Toy Dolls records. They have had a few good songs since then, but that’s what Spotify is for.