Japandroids are a band out of time. They howl. They strum furiously. They scream lyrics like, "We used to dream!/ Now we worry about dying!" And they're a drums 'n' guitar twosome (How 2003!). Call them exuberantly old-fashioned, but don't call them soft. Because, as this smooshed-together compilation of their early EPs, 2007's All Lies and 2008's Lullaby Death Jams, elucidates, this is a band with a fury inside of it. With Brian King on guitar and David Prowse on drums, there isn't anything terribly inventive about the sound — they go fast and hard, guitars slashing like razor talons, cymbals crashing like the Dow — but there's also a coy post-emo revivalism about them. Their aw-shucks, BTO-meets-Mclusky vibe (note the "To Hell With Good Intentions" cover) is effortlessly freewheeling and oftentimes, hilarious.

The best of these EPs are the more slapdash affairs, like the impish "Couture Suicide" and limber-fingered "Avant Sleepwalk," where their wooo-ing and ooooh-ing is at full throttle. These songs feel less open-hearted than the highlights of their full-length debut, 2009's Post-Nothing, but the origins distill a band that's capable of an untamed sort of fun. Even when their emotions are on the line.