The Communion Girl

The Flesh Creeping Gonzoid: Speciality Offal & Other Choice Cuts is the sister collection to The Flesh Creeping Gonzoid: Speciality Offal & Other Imaginary Creatures. The box consists of 6 CDs and a DVD of studio out-takes, deleted obscurities, compilation appearances, vinyl and download releases. All discs are over 75 minutes in length and feature a wealth of previously unreleased material.

When the post-punk revival of early-aughts Manhattan (think bands with “The” in their name) yielded to the Brooklyn DIY scene later that decade, Vivian Girls were leading the charge, expertly blending scrappy lo-fi punk with ’60s girl-group harmonies. The all-female trio was also on the front lines of the cesspool that was music blog comment sections, and not incidentally, the group disbanded after their third record. But with Memory, their first record in eight years, they pick up where they left off—namely, rough-around-the-edges garage and surf-rock jams that spiral off into dreamy tangents (perfected on songs like the echoing, reverb-drenched “Lonely Girl”). And they do it all ever so coolly, as if all three rolled out of bed one day and decided to make a comeback album for the hell of it.

The greatest New Zealand rock band, they evolved from quirky art rockers into a pop powerhouse thanks to the skills of the brothers Finn. This Australian-only box set covers the period of the band's peak in popularity (1980-1984). Beginning with True Colours and ending with their swan song, See Ya Round, it shows the band in perfect pop form. While this is too ambitious for the casual fan, the devoted will find this essential for considerably improved sound and the bonus disc of previously unreleased tracks.