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If you’re wondering what Mick Collins — founder of venerable Detroit rockers the Dirtbombs — thinks of trendy garage rock, check the liner notes of the most recent ‘Bombs compilation, If You Don’t Already Have a Look. Defending a brilliant Yoko Ono cover, Collins says, “Fuck you and your white belt.” For more than ten years, Collins and an ever-changing cast of companions have made gritty, grubby garage rock, and they have no patience for fashion-conscious fads. With utter disregard for musical proficiency and modern recording techniques, Collins carries the torch for hometown heroes the Stooges and the MC5. Rude lyrics, cheap come-ons and plenty of in-jokes pepper the band’s prodigious output, adding caustic comedy to its thunderous, fueled-by-Old-Style romps. But the key to the Dirtbombs’ success is a refusal to settle into a single sound as they pound rockabilly, Brit pop, punk, country, disco and much more into a thick paste of good-time rock and roll, straight out of a greasy Motor City garage. Not a white belt to be seen for miles.
