Manic Street Preachers — Lipstick Traces: A Secret History Of The Manic Street Preachers

The title of the Manic Street Preachers' B-sides and covers collection makes a nudge wink reference to Greil Marcus' Lipstick Traces: A Secret History Of The Twentieth Century, a clever book that explores the birth of punk with heavy philosophical and sociological gravitas. It's the type of heady name-dropping one would expect from the Manics, a band with considerable intelligence to match their punkish ambitions. As Lipstick Traces demonstrates, even the band's B-sides feature catchy hooks, witty lyrics and solid rock song structures and dynamics. Earlier material, featuring doomed wunderkind Richey James (nee Edwards), packs a more boisterous punch, but the effort is consistently solid. The same can't be said for the second disc of covers, wherein the band tackles material like Burt Bacharach's "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" and Wham's "Last Christmas." The band may have mellowed in later years, but this easy-listening fare still doesn't fit the Manics mold. Better are the covers of The Clash's "Train In Vain" and "What's My Name," clear homages to one of the band's original influences.

Get it from