Before I.R.S. Records, Miles Copeland cut his teeth in the world of Rock and Roll by managing a UK band by the name of Wishbone Ash.  Copeland developed an ear for music that would become big hits filling the AM and FM airwaves with unforgettable songs.  What started as illegal Records soon became too big for the small label, and I.R. S. (International Record Syndicate) was born.

The legend of IRS Records is well known.  Begun in 1979 primarily by Miles Copeland, who, at the time, was manager of The Police, I.R.S. proved to be an energizing force.  With diversity within its roster, the label hosted greatness by way of The Police, The Buzzcocks, R.E.M., The Go Go’s. and Squeeze.  It also provided equal opportunity to notable bands like Wall of Voodoo, Oingo Boingo, The Cramps (oh that Lux Interior), The Alarm, and The English Beat.  I.R.S. Records was also home to important new bands like Skafish (who opened Chicago up to Punk), The Fleshtones, Klark Kent, and Suburban Lawns.

That’s quite a stable of talent to say the least.  And we hadn’t even mentioned Fine Young Cannibals, General Public, Timbuk 3 (was our future really THAT bright?), and Lords of the New Church.  Yep.  Mighty impressive, I.R.S. Records.  However, as time will have it, the label lost sight of its original goal in a changing time.  Instead of being a game-changer, as it was accustomed to being,  it failed in finding the music that we would soon be listening to.  By 1996, the label had shuttered its operation closing the door on one of Rock’s great independent labels.  A part of Rock and Roll had truly died.

Last year, the label was restarted not by Miles Copeland III, but by Jonathan Daniel and Bob McLynn, who run a NYC-based management company (Crush Management) with a clientele list that includes Fall Out Boy, Hole, Panic! At The Disco, Gym Class Heroes, and Cobra Starship to name a few.  The initial reaction to the rebirth of I.R.S. Records brought raised eyebrows.  Recently, two bands currently managed by Crush were announced to have albums on the way, both being released on I.R.S. label, which brazenly uses the iconic logo as if the label had never died.

Back in the waning years of the ’70s, and the birth of the ’80s, Rock music was still relatively young.  As the ’80s progressed, the new music being experimented with found a home on many important independents (Stiff Records, Factory Records, I.R.S. Records).  However, our current musical atmosphere fosters many new ways of pushing new music along the corridors of discovery that greatly diminish the once important label imprint with the best bands.  This makes us wonder why I.R.S. Records was revived.

Arriving on January 24, The Church of Rock And Roll, the debut release from Foxy Shazam becomes the inaugural album for the label.  The label’s second signing is with Chiddy Bang, whose debut, Breakfast, will arrive on February 28.  That’s all fine and good.  However, with I.R.S. Records‘ reputation at stake, we have to ask the question – the only one that matters.  Are Foxy Shazam, and Chiddy Bang representative of the same kind of magic that lit the fires of the original Copeland-created, Boberg-ran label all these many years ago?

The label debut from Foxy Shazam (their fourth album) suggests a good start.  I’m including a complete album stream  that is currently being hosted at Rolling Stone.  Give it a listen and let’s chat about whether the label should have been rebirthed and whether Foxy Shazam, Chiddy Bang, and any future bands and artists might give credence back to the label, enough to have you keeping an eye on future releases.

(The more I listen to the album, The Church of Rock and Roll, the MORE I like it.)  (Yeah, I think I really like it!)