The Swimming Pool Q’s “The A&M Years Collection”

(Cipher Bureau/Bar-None) I was in Target this week and they had a shelf full of $30 vinyl LPs, all ubiquitous hits albums by U2 and Tom Petty and Pink Floyd that you could get used for $5 or less, or sealed on eBay for $10. That is stupid and those things should not be reissued like that. I’m saying that to say this: Anything else, anything that’s rare, hard to find, gone for any reason, deserves a reissue and it can be as lush and deluxe as the label and band and archvists and Kickstarter backers and trust funds and drug money allows. I am happy that there is an ultra posh reissue of two of this Athens-adjacent 80s New Wave band’s mid-80s’ albums, with a bonus disc of rarities and a DVD and bells and whistles. Did I like the band? Do I think these are compelling to listen to? Are these their two best albums? I cannot answer in the enthusiastic affirmative for any of those questions, but this stuff sounds OK still, and I’m happy that they are being treated right by history with this collection, and I’d sure as shit rather see this in Target than “Rattle and Hum.”