Poison Idea, the self-proclaimed, and rightly so, 'Kings of Punk' hail from Portland, Oregon, and are the epitome of all that is truly Punk Rock, raw, belligerent, no pretensions. Despite all the problems faced by the band with changing line-ups and addictions they still managed to outlast musically the posers who claimed to be Punk. Formed in 1980 by Jerry A and still performing and recording intermittently, sadly without Tom 'Pig Champion' Roberts, who died in 2006.

Poison Idea were a band whose success was built wholly and solely on their hard work, talent and notoriety. Good looking pin up boys they were not. They were fat, foul mouthed but amazingly talented and Pig Champion's furious, bluesy guitar riffs were a joy for the ear to behold.

'Darby Crash Rides Again' (2012) is twenty nine tracks digitally re-mastered by Jack Control (World Burns To Death) from the formative years of the band. The album title reflects the acknowledged influence on Jerry A of Darby Crash, vocalist with Los Angeles Punk band The Germs. This is an album of ground breaking, boundary challenging, raw Punk Rock and if you were expecting something pretty, it's not. Punk was never meant to be pretty, it was meant to sound like this!!

The album is made up from a previously unreleased demo 'Boners Kitchen' from 1981, the complete 'Derby Crash' rides again demo from 1982, a live uncut demo 'KBOO Radio Benefit' recorded in 1983, where amusingly the band threaten to continue playing because people are not donating enough money, and outtakes from the 'Record Collector's Are Pretentious Assholes' recording session.

This is an album for true aficionados of Poison Idea. Essential listening for those people who, like myself, have all their previously released material or for people who are interested in the real sound of Punk Rock and its origins. Also the many previously released tracks in this collection are no longer available in their original format.

The tracks that stand out for me on this collection are the three slightly different versions of 'Motorhead' and it is worth owning just on the strength of these alone. Also worth mentioning are the excellent 'Pure Hate', a version of which ended up on the 'Pick Your King' album and 'Ugly American' which a more polished version, by Poison Idea's standards was re-recorded for the 'Kings Of Punk' album.

Such has been the impact of Poison Idea, they have been cited as influencing hundreds of bands over the years including Pantera, Machine Head, Napalm Death and Turbonegro to name a few. This album represents a piece of musical history.