With songs like Equality Sandwich, Government Problem, More Than A Fucking and Girl From The Outlet Mall, Condo Fucks became favourite sons in their native New London in the 1980s. Now they’re back – if not quite by popular demand, as they were never popular. They’re an old school kind of band, more interested in kickin’ out the jams, sneering and drinking Bud in their garage than getting a MySpace to promote their endeavours.

Oh, and another thing: their history is fiction – the Condo Fucks are actually the members of Yo La Tengo, which is intruiging because Yo La Tengo are a great band and a bit disappointing, because I really wanted – œKid Condo’ to be a real person.

Yo La Tengo have always had a fairly twisted sense of humour and an interest in playful tampering with their own identity. They’ve already played obvious heroes The Velvet Underground on film and faked their own deaths to recreate a satirical story from The Onion, so assuming fake identities was perhaps the logical next step. The new persona also allows them to ditch the baggage of being one of indie rock’s most venerated groups and indulge their love of garage rock with this collection of covers. It’s sloppy, scuzzy, often badly played and way too loud, but that’s exactly what you’ll love about it. In rock and roll, messiness can be a virtue.

If Fuckbook (the title being a sly reference to Yo La Tengo’s Fakebook ) is an in-joke, however, it’s a pretty elaborate one. The detail extends to advertisments for their fake back-catalogue and a (presumably fictitious) thank you letter from former Vice Presidential candidate and Democratic turncoat Joseph Lieberman. And there’s no shortage of commitment or attitude here. Still, comparisons with the group’s main band are inevitable and Fuckbook doesn’t have the sprawling ambition or breadth of musical interest that makes the Hoboken trio so vital. Instead, it’s wall-to-wall throwaway garage stuff, expertly done, but nothing you need if you don’t cherish the particular brand of youthful rock that the – œNuggets’ compilations covered so fruitfully.

Their raucous take on The Troggs’ With A Girl Like You, in particular, is fantastic, kicking off with a hollered “1,2,3,4” and launching into the eminently hummable melody with vocals which sound like they’ve been recorded from across the road. The Beach Boys’ Shut Down, meanwhile, is the most rough and ready you’ve ever heard a Wilson brothers song sound. Richard Hell’s Kid With The Replacable Head is more trashy goodness and again has a definite surf rock feel. Coinnosseurs of Slade or The Flaming Groovies may shake their heads at the drunken lashes at their songs featured here, but the Condo Fucks don’t care what coinnosseurs think.

The production throughout is cheap and nasty and, oddly enough, is credited to Robert – œMutt’ Lange, whose previous credits include the assorted ghastliness of Nickleback, Billy Ocean, Shania Twain and The Corrs. So I’m guessing that’s a joke then. Still, if Lange ever wants a break from being himself, he could follow Condo Fucks’ lead and embrace the joys of playing great old songs really fast and loud and recording them as badly as is possible. All in all it’s a fun record, though perhaps not a particularly memorable one.

Fuckbook is out now on Matador through Remote Control Records.