ROIR’s CD reissue of its 1981 Lipstick Killers cassette is for scholars only. The New York Dolls’ 1972 Mercer Street session demos are highly interesting, since it’s the earlier lineup with Billy Murcia on drums, before the original stickman passed out and died at a party in London at the end of a legendary British tour. But what Lipstick really shows is that Murcia was half the drummer of his eventual successor, Nolan. Still, for big fans, the band sounds so different (even more primal!), it’s still good to hear more primitive, well-recorded versions of “Looking for a Kiss,” “Bad Girl,” Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Don’t Start Me Talking,” and so on. You can see why everyone was already so damn excited by this band during its early Mercer St. Arts Center residency days. – Jack Rabid