Preview: The Radio Dept., "Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002 - 2010"

News that the Radio Dept. would be releasing a singles collection was met with much rejoicing among a small group of obsessive music fans in sweaters, the sort who used to buy import 2-part singles in the 90s, just for the b-sides, and who spend hours trolling through the internet's darker corners looking for rare tracks by beloved superheroes. The Radio Dept. have maintained an extremely high level of quality throughout their career, with three excellent albums of fuzzy, sad indie pop, the perfect soundtrack for drinking tea while fretting about things. If you only have their three albums, though, then you are missing out on the bounty of b-sides and one-off singles. It is with some disappointment that I must report that the singles collection track listing does not quite meet collector-geek criteria. In fact, there are so many b-sides missing that the wistful sadness of it all makes me want to drink tea and listen to the Radio Dept. This collection was perhaps designed as an introduction to the band for the neophyte, and if so, it certainly hits all of their best songs, and would make an excellent gift for a younger sibling who like to read. But fans and collector types should note that the following songs, some of which are quite good, are not on this collection (I haven't included live tracks, radio sessions, or unreleased material):

1. Tell You About My Job Where Damage Isn't Already Done EP 2002
2. Bad Reputation Annie Laurie EP 2002
3. Falafel Annie Laurie EP 2002
4. We Climb The Wired Fences Pulling Our Weight EP 2003
5. Someone Else Pulling Our Weight EP 2003
6. The City Limit Pulling Our Weight EP 2003
7. I Don't Need Love, I've Got My Band Why Won't You Talk About It? EP 2004
8. The Things That Went Wrong Ewan EP 2004
9. Deliverance This Past Week EP 2005
10. I Don't Like This This Past Week EP 2005
11. Let Me Have This This Past Week EP 2005
12. Värnhem This Past Week EP 2005
13. Flow Flux Clan Remix The Worst Taste In Music EP 2006
14. Industry Standard Remix By Differnet The Worst Taste In Music EP 2006
15. The Room, Tarzana Freddie And The Trojan Horse EP 2008
16. Closing Scene Pt. 2 Freddie And The Trojan Horse EP 2008
17. David (Rice Twins Remix) David EP 2009
18. In America Heaven's On Fire EP 2010
19. Stay Off Route Never Follow Suit EP 2010
20. Never Swallow Fruit Dub By Pistol Disco Never Follow Suit EP 2010

Here are a couple lost tracks. First up, "We Climb The Wire Fences":

And here's their song with the best title, "I Don't Need Love, I've Got My Band":