Lew Bedell
was the best kind of record man: the kind who knew that the business was exploitative at its core, so why not keep things cheap, quick, and sleazy? That's precisely what
Bedell
did with
Dore
, the label he could call his own after parting ways with
Herb Newman
in 1959. On his own,
recorded all manner of teen rockers, fuzz merchants, Hollywood wannabes, and R&B renegades, cutting them swiftly in hopes of a hit but never investing enough money to guarantee that these 45s would hit the charts. For
, hits were a matter of blind luck and rock & roll was an inherently transient form, so why not cut any hungry musician on the make? This intentional disposability is why
Make Mine Mondo!
, a 28-track compilation of highlights from the
vaults, such a gas. Every one of these songs is a desperate attempt to chase some trend, but there's a ton of personality within these generic songs by faceless artists. "Yes, Master!" by
the Whips
flirts with S&M,
the Zanies
make zonked-out Halloween rock,
Los Corvett
spit out a Spanish version of
the Stones
' "Satisfaction,"
Spencer's Van Dykes
' "I'll Blow My Mind" is frenzied garage-skronk, and even
Johnny Z
.'s wobbly instrumental "Midnight Beach Party" feels like a transmission piped in from a B-movie. All these cheap thrills were designed for nothing more than the moment, but that's why they're so potent: this is bottled lightning, feeling as exciting and tawdry as when it was recorded back in the '60s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine