The Singles Collection is our weekly column where we highlight some great pieces of 7″ wax — whether new or old — that we think you should know about.

This week we’ve got a spate of beautifully lo-fi gems for you, spread across three delectable platters of 7″ vinyl. Some are sweet, some sinister and one is even a little of both, but enough of my babbling, onto the nitty gritty.

First off we’ve got the newest offering from Oakland trash-pop maestro Hunx and his Punx, “You Don’t Like Rock ‘n’ Roll” b/w “Gimme Gimme Back Your Love” on the Rob’s House Label. An associate of the mighty Nobunny, Hunx is quickly becoming the master of the trashy, flashy, two-and-a-half minute pop song, and nowhere is that more apparent than on the A-Side, which rumbles along on a steadily insistent strum and a chorus that rattles around in your brain like a pinball, culminating in some of the gooiest, most insanely hummable pop this side of a 1910 Fruitgum Co. reunion. The flipside is reminiscent, both in terms of attitude and melodic delivery, of its (probable) namesake “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment” by The Ramones, only given a rueful gay overhaul, filled with stampeding guitars that stomp around like over-caffeinated brats and lines like, “You are talking to other dudes, that’s so damn rude”. Plus, if that doesn’t convince you, the dual scratch-off covers should certainly be enough to get you to pony up $5.

Next up is the debut slab from Atlanta’s slam-glam kings and queens Vera Fang; the Slade, Soundgarden and Sweet-aping Coscumption EP on the Army of Bad Luck label. Equally adept at cranking out art-damaged punk, glitter-spangled glam boogie and overdriven, grungy wailing, the band use the EP as a brilliant showcase for their diverse talents, making them one of the country’s brightest up-and-comers. Particularly potent is the snotty, riot-grrrl-ish barnburner that is “Role Dolls”, which, at times, is redolent of early Hole, and the Big Muff-aided “Herd”, a fantastic throwback to the flannel-bedecked days of 1994, rife with mammoth riffs and rail-spike rhythms. A bonus cd-r is included that features two tracks not on the 7″, and these are limited to a scant 200 copies, so you’d best get to stepping if you want to grab one, otherwise, don’t come crying to us when you are trying to outbid somebody in Belgium for a copy on eBay.

Another Oakland outfit closes out things for us this week, new hype-gods Buzzer and their debut single for the Douchemaster label, “Disco Kiddz” b/w “Cool Feeling” and “Heavy Weather”. The A-Side is definitely in the running for song of the year, oozing muscular, Motors-esque panache from every velvety pore, its a perfect cool breeze of muscular power-pop, aided and abetted by a slinky-yet-martial cadence and jagged guitars ripped straight from the playbook of Johnny Thunders himself. The pair of songs on the flip are equally impressive, a pair of full-bore rockers whose sound references Nick Lowe and The Heartbreakers in equal measure, interweaving smoldering melodies and bull-in-a-china shop riffs into fantastic, glam-splattered pop firebombs that Marc Bolan would have been proud to call his own.

That’s it for the singles collection this week, but make sure and stay tuned, because next week we’ve got another batch of the best singles around, including releases from the mighty M’ladys Records and more!

1. The Singles Collection – Hunx And His Punx, Jacuzzi Boys, Woven Bones, Ean Eraser
2. The Singles Collection – Cold Cave, Tamaryn, Crayon
3. The Singles Collection – Eric & The Happy Thoughts, A.H. Kraken
4. The Singles Collection – Video Installment On Sacred Bones, With Zola Jesus, Max Elliott And Dead Luke
5. The Singles Collection – Naked On The Vague, Nice Face, Timmy’s Organism