The Blasters: Testament: The Complete Slash Recordings

Of the many qualities that make The Blasters worth remembering, its status as a rockabilly revival band isn't the most important. More than few rockabilly revivalists came out of the late '70s, after all, and more than a few came out of the punk-dominated L.A. scene. But The Blasters set itself apart with skill, the good taste to seek inspiration from music outside of straight-up rockabilly, and especially attitude. As chief songwriter Dave Alvin remembers in the liner notes to Testament, a new anthology drawn from the meat of the group's career, "We felt that if we played the old blues, R&B, and rockabilly songs with the same energy as the originals that there was nothing 'dated' about them, that they could stand up next to any punk song." Testament bears that instinct out. Resuming the story begun with American Music, the 1997 reissue of the group's long-unavailable first album, the two-disc set includes the next three Blasters records in their entirety, alongside rarities and an electrifying live EP. Nearly every track finds the band running through spirited covers and memorable originals with equal aplomb, inheriting a style of music that its members were seemingly born to play—though their studies at the feet of Big Joe Turner and peripheral member Lee Allen, among others, couldn't have hurt. But as much as The Blasters' music respected tradition, it never became a simple tribute act, thanks in large part to Alvin's ability to invest old sounds with contemporary sentiments. Songs like "Hollywood Bed" and "Boomtown" capture The Blasters' time and place as memorably as the group's crosstown pals in X (which Alvin later briefly joined). In the end, that moment and place weren't quite ready for The Blasters, and its influence stretched further than its popularity. As the slightly overpolished 1985 album Hard Line failed to catch fire (in spite of a songwriting contribution from admirer John Mellencamp), the feuding between Alvin and his brother Phil began to take center stage, and the original incarnation of The Blasters called it a day, though Phil Alvin occasionally revived the name. While the group lasted, however, it proved there was life in an old sound, inspired likeminded acts, and played with the legends. It could have gone better, but it could have gone a lot worse.