DMBQ

The letters used as a name by this Japanese quartet stand for "Dynamite Masters Blues Quartet," and the handle's pretty damn accurate, all things considered. Although DMBQ was founded during the late '80s, The Essential Sounds From the Far East, just unleashed by Estrus Records, is only the group's fourth full-length, and that's a shame, since the disc will leave any listener with a taste for raw psychedelia ravenous for more -- much more. Rather than offering cautious, genteel variations on blues-rock verities, or settling for the same stereotypes that typify forgettable bar bands in either hemisphere, songs such as "She Walks" and "Nowhere" rush to the edge of sonic hysteria and then gleefully dive over it. Guitarist/vocalist Shinji Masuko plays like he shrieks -- with crazed abandon -- and cohorts Toru Matsui, Ryuichi Watanabe and uni-monikered China feed off his frenzy to create music that overflows with a wonderfully filthy brand of joy. The men of DMBQ, who are slated to appear alongside Little Compass at the hi-dive, definitely deserve the "Dynamite Masters" designation. Explosions never sounded so good.