Untamed Melodies

In the retro band sweepstakes of the last 20 years or less, a few bands of substantive worth emerged out of the pack of trendy poseurs to eke out a bit of their own turf, even if commercial success wasn't in the cards. One such band was The Untamed Youth. A buncha wild-ass teenagers from Columbia, MO, who seemingly stepped out of the time machine in the late '80s from a land where the Rivieras, Trashmen, Astronauts and Ronny & the Daytonas rule at an all-night '60s teen dance, The UY were the real thing in those pre-Pulp Fiction days of no surf on the horizon. This generous 32-track anthology collects all the winners from their three long players for Norton along with stray 45s and a few unissued twist-o-ramas thrown in for good measure. Guitarist-vocalist-bandleader Derek Dickerson is a true phenom on these tracks, ably assisted by wild-man driving-force bass man Steve Mace and a revolving cast of pounding drummers and Farfisa organ manglers. Teenage music by real teenagers — even if the teenage music they're playing was popular before any of them were born — is a concept that always works and on this comp, it works with a vengeance. If they lived on Spaghettio's back in these lean times, we salute their dedication here. If heavy doses of the teenage beat and G-L-O-R-I-A is your thing, here's where you go to get it done right. All this reverb and Pabst Blue Ribbon, too.