The first time I heard of The Dirtbombs was when I was making a film in my final year of university. Ironically, despite four years of Film Studies, the only film I directed myself was for a course in the Drama department. The film was a non-linear narrative which in short was about a guy who wanted to get his girlfriend to dump him, without realising that the girl was one step ahead of him. The key scene was a party where he makes out with a girl that isn’t his girlfriend, and for scene I was pretty keen to get some appropriate music. I asked an internet forum for advice, and the first suggestion was Chains of Love by The Dirtbombs. I didn’t use it, but it was a pretty cool song. In hindsight it was good that I didn’t use it as it had already featured in The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, though I think that was only released in Ireland a year later

Anyway. To coincide with the release of Party Store, The Dirtbombs have hooked up with Scion A/V to bring us a selection of Detroit remixes of their tracks – themselves reworks or covers of Detroit techno classics. First off I should mention the neat cover art/PDF booklet that accompanies the package, a series of Detroit-related anecdotes from the time band leader Mick Collins came up in the 80s – think house parties, cars bumping Cybotron and record stores where the owner sells his own copy to eager music enthusiasts.

We have Omar S tackling the DBs’ version of Sharevari (originally done by A Number of Names), before Ectomorph reverts The Aztec Mystic’s Jaguar – I swear this one actually makes me wheeze, the original track is so beautiful that this rework-then-remix is at once mind-blowing and tear-jerking – and finally young Kyle Hall puts the Bug back in The Bassbin. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. This one retains the shuffling beats of the original while incorporating a series of grinding, crunching sounds that perfectly sit with the home-town nature of the project. Dropping channels and cutting the volume, it’s a masterclass demonstration in the simple power of electronics. Motor City is in the house and it’s time to visit the Party Store.

As for the party in my film, I ended up using, eh, Kings of Leon (boo) and Spank Rock (yay!). Nobody’s perfect.

Download: [wpaudio url=”https://truantsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/The-Dirtbombs-Bug-In-The-Bassbin-Kyle-Hall-Remix1.mp3″ text=”THE DIRTBOMBS – BUG IN THE BASSBIN (KYLE HALL REMIX)”] (320 kbps)

Stream: [wpaudio url=”https://truantsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/The-Dirtbombs-Jaguar-Ectomorph-Remix1.mp3″ text=”The Dirtbombs – Jaguar (Ectomorph Remix)” dl=”0″]

Stream: [wpaudio url=”https://truantsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/The-Dirtbombs-Sharevari-Omar-S-Remix1.mp3″ text=”The Dirtbombs – Sharevari (Omar S Remix)” dl=”0″]