Here at Halo-17, we have a policy of not really reviewing singles compilations and the like. We don't think that it's really that constructive to pass judgement on collections of stuff that we've heard before, unless of course the collection brings something new to the table, or is otherwise noteworthy. In the case of "Inches", Les Savy Fav's long-awaited singles compilation though, we decided that the songs presented here are good enough to have another look at.

Unlike acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who simply packaged their hits onto a CD and re-released the same songs that everyone has heard a million times, in what the cynical might view as a cheap no-effort cash-in, Rhode Island art-punkers Les Savy Fav have grabbed all of their hard-to-find singles, put them in reverse chronological order, and given them a worldwide release on nice, crisp, digital CD. The audio improvement from the vinyl 7" records to digitised sound has been done very well indeed, and most of the music still sounds very organic, without the murkiness and cloudiness that sometimes comes with the vinyl medium.

The most notable thing about this release is how well these songs, which were never meant to be heard on the same album, work together. They haven't got the shared themes of a concept album, or even the cohesiveness of some good old-fashioned album rock, but the songs don't detract from one another or clash horribly, like some other chronological albums of this type have (I'm looking at you, Smashing Pumpkins). Of course, this is mainly because the band only used songs as singles that could stand on their own, which also means that you can quite comfortably put this album on shuffle without losing any of the effect whatsoever.

The actual quality and style of the music varies wildly over the course of the seventy minutes of the album. Starting out with their more recent, polished dance-punk music like Meet Me In The Dollar Bin and Hold On To Your Genre, the album quickly winds its way backwards through the quirky pop-punk of Hello Halo, Goodbye Glands, and then all the way back to the grumbly experimental punk of Bringing Us Down and Blackouts on Thursday.

If there are any complaints with this collection, it's that in places, the restoration isn't quite up to stretch, and the somewhat bewildering decision to include a live version of Reformat in the mix. I mean, it's a decent enough live song and all, but I can't see just what its place here is. However, these are minor complaints with what is essentially a solid album of material that many casual fans of Les Savy Fav are only marginally aware of. A nice summary of the band's career so far, and an excellent place to start off with this band.