Massively overdue comes a retrospective of mid- to late-eighties Californian alt-country rockers The Long Ryders.
Final Wild Songs is a four-CD set which Sid Griffin and Tom Stevens spent over a year compiling from the original tapes with the fourth disc a live set from Dutch radio in 1985. There are previously unreleased tracks, some released only in the USA and a couple of radical remixes. There are bits of memorabilia, a fold-out poster, song-by-song comments from five former members. It's a complete overview of the band.
What this all highlights is that they were bloody good. Tight as a drum. And while alt-country really became a thing in the mid-nineties, these guys were a decade ahead of that.
Above all else though, it's just bloody good fun. Go see them, go get the album.

The Long Ryders are touring the UK in spring - see their website for details. Get Final Wild Songs here and follow them on twitter @LongRyders