The combined format release of these albums from 2004 and 2005, skipping the subsequent We Belong To The Staggering Evening, comes as a taster for this summer's new offering Poison The Hit Parade. Irish American Mike Reilly dropped the 'M' to give his band the 'provocative' acronym which presumably goes down well with a NORAID home audience in Chicago, and they may be trying to muscle in on the success that The Hold Steady have had with similar intelligent blue collar mid-American pub rock. They have regularly supported The Pogues, and have an unpredictable (in an incendiary way) live reputation mainly built around their charismatic front man - part punkish firebrand exhibitionist, part confessional man-of-the-people poet.By chance I tackled them in reverse chronological order. Junkie Faithful does have plenty of references to drugs, booze, Catholic hang-ups and life at the grubby end, but few standout tracks: tunes somehow often fail to match the lyrical talent - which is usually self-deprecating and both cuttingly pulling no punches and witty. Reilly has a touch of Bruce meets Dylan about his voice. Brooding opener '22 Hours of Darkness' promises much with its pounding bass riff. Almost poppy 'God And Money' and the working man's protest of 'Suffer For The Trust' also register. The rock ballad 'Everything Is Gonna Be Alright' was doing well with its earnest delivery and wailing harp until spoilt by a temporary mid-song change of direction for the titular chorus. Little else hit home for me - a sprinkling of mid-tempo rockers and a couple that are downright plodding.So, with some foreboding I moved on to its predecessor. 'I Don't Want What You Got' draws on hip-hop beats: rejecting "Cars and girls and drinks and songs" whilst asking "What about love and what about trust", delivered in Subterranean Homesick Blues style rapping - including: "Jerry Lee Lewis with his balls on fire / In the back of a Rocket 88 / With an out of state plate / And an underage date". It works. 'Waitin For Daddy' has a lo-fi shouty Dylan/Guthrie skiffle feel too. 'Its Alright To Die' could be Plastique Bertrand fronting the Strokes, and there's a following pulsating good time kick-back in 'Whatever Happened To The Girl In Me'. By now I'm starting to enjoy most of this one. 'The Boat Song (We're Getting' Loaded)' is pleasantly melodic in a way that gives it a distinct sound amongst the rest. Some heavier wig-outs, some blues, the introspective restraint of 'St. Joe's Band' and 'The Ex-Americans'. This could be a Tom Petty album? More variety and sustenance here.So, a curate's egg: at his/their best Ike Reilly is a dysfunctional punky early-ish Bruce O'Springsteen; at his/their worst, anonymous Saw Doctors rockers. MySpace has plenty of tracks from the forthcoming album. It would appear to continue in this inconsistent vein. I would have preferred a 'Best Of' compilation, and the overall score reflects my lingering lack of need to revisit Junkie Faithful. 53%[Download Ike Reilly Assassination]Links Ike Reilly Assassination [myspace]