I Don't Care - The Nems Records Years

In the minimal amount of time that most bands take between albums today, the Boys unleashed two crucial albums and a trio of still sparkling singles. Having inked a deal with the NEMS label early in 1977, the band announced their intentions that April with the anything-but-apathetic 45 "I Don't Care." The incandescent terror of "First Time" followed in July, with the band's eponymous debut album appearing a few months later. Gigs kept the Boys busy into the New Year, and it wasn't until late spring that the effervescent nostalgia of "Brickfield Nights" swept onto the scene. However, by the time their sophomore set, Alternative Chartbusters, was released in October, Nems was already in financial straits. The following year, the group jumped ship. I Don't Care (The Nems Records Years) is a superb round-up of much of the Boys early back catalog, presented chronologically from their first single to their final recordings for the label. Rounding up A and B-sides, album tracks, alternate versions, and rarities, this compilation captures the group at their earliest, giddiest heights, a non-stop panoply of punky power pop pulchritude.