| ROCKIST | HOME | REVIEWS | INTERVIEWS | BANDS ON TOUR | LINKS |
| BEST OF THE NEW BEST OF 2003 BEST OF 2002 BEST OF 2001 | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| V/A - Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault - Jawbreaker Tribute "You're not punk and I'm telling everyone. Save your breath, I never was one." - Jawbreaker, "Boxcar" The flood of tribute albums in recent years has led many a music fan, including this writer, to become skeptical. They seem to be as good, fun, or interesting about as often as not. For tributes to punk bands, this seems to be the rule rather than the exception (see the incredibly spotty Rock Music - A Tribute to Weezer and Burning London - The Clash Tribute). Fortunately, this compilation succeeds where others fail - by imbuing songs that are already strong with heart, power, and sincerity.Standouts include Fall Out Boy's amped-up version of "Save Your Generation" with its chorus of kids screaming "whoah-oo-oah," The Aeffect's slowed-down, synth-pop version of "Boxcar," and Good Night Bad Guy (members of the Movielife)'s acoustic guitar and keyboard of "Jet Black" which should get some emo kid laid tonight. Face to Face's earnest version of "Boat Dreams From the Hill" is a winner too (though it would have been nice to include their killer version of "Chesterfield King" from FtF's cover album Standards and Practices, especially since Nerf Herder commits murder most foul on the song by pummeling it right into the ground). The majority of the bands on this album remains extremely faithful to the sound of the songs, but mixes it up a bit with a bigger production sound. This compilation stands up extremely well on its own without a prior knowledge of the band it pays tribute to, but let's hope it leads some fans to the albums, since Jawbreaker was responsible for providing the 1990s with four of its smartest punk albums and deserves at least one listen. (Dying Wish Records) |
V/A - Pet Sounds- Volume 1 Steve from Vital Cog put this together as a benefit for not-for-profit organization (devoted to promoting the well-being of animals) called Animal Liberation Through Education and Reform. It features a great new Tim song, the truly brilliant Silkworm song "Dead Animals" (it nearly made me stop eating meat and probably would tilt those of you on the edge), and the best My Dad is Dead song to date, as well as great, yet previously released, songs from Heatmiser and Cinerama. Good cause, good songs. (Vital Cog Records, http://www.vitalcog.com) V/A - Scratches & Needles- a tribute to The Nils This album was nearly five years in the making. And boy, am I glad it was made. The Nils were one of the most important Canadian punk/pop bands ever and yet, virtually unknown. The persistence of longtime Nils fan and Magwheel Records chief Woody Whelan brought both this album and the Green Fields in Daylight Nils discography to light. This album contains great versions of Nils tunes by Down by Law, New Sweet Breath (!), Sinkhole (!!), Doc Hopper, Warship Grey (featuring Jack Rabid from The Big Takeover), Stand GT, Ruby's Drive In (featuring the previously mentioned Woody), and six more-- all great. I had heard the song "Scratches & Needles" a while ago, who knows where, and loved it. For those of you that just know that song, love the band, love The Replacements, have barely heard of them, or are a bit curious, this and the Green Fields in Daylight CD are great additions to your collection. (Mag Wheel Records) |
| V/A - Burning London Not great at all, but I bought it used for $8. Some of this is damn ugly - - Third Eye Blind, Indigo Girls, No Doubt (with Billie Idol doing the backing vox), Silverfuckingchair???!! Cracker's countrified version of "White Riot" is decent enough, but I expected more. I'm also a bit disappointed with the tracks by the two bands on this compilation that I figured were most inspired by The Clash, Rancid and the Bosstones. The only reasons I don't feel cheated are the Afghan Whigs doing "Lost in the Supermarket", Ice Cube and Mack 10 doing "Should I Stay or Should I Go", and Moby and Heather Nova doing a slow, but beautiful version of "Straight to Hell." I also liked the contributions from some of the bands (why not all of them?) in the liner notes talking about The Clash. V/A - City Rockers Pretty cool stuff. For me, I felt that Hot Water Music's take on "Clampdown" is inspired and inspiring enough to warrant tracking this down; it's truly powerful and the lyrics of empowerment suit HWM incredibly well. I was also impressed by the contributions from Dave Smalley (ex-Dag Nasty guy doing "Death or Glory" acoustic), Kid Dynamite, The Sick, Incognegro (horrible band name, but an interesting hip hop take on "Brand New Cadillac"), Murphy's Law, and the Dropkick Murphy's. Kudos to Gus Pena for sticking with this project for two years. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed!! (Karma/Chord) |
V/A - Swami Sound System - Vol. 1: 2003 Sales Conference "Behold, the power of tomorrow's forgotten sounds today." - from the back of the CD If you've been missing out on the great rock and roll coming from the Swami's cave, here's your chance to catch up. Forget your kings, princes, and president thieves...all hail the Swami!!! (Rumor has it that the Swami is in fact John Reis of Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes, and The Sultans, but the Swami is never seen, only heard on the radio waves around San Diego). The Swami has put together a pretty tasty slab of compact disc material here, from the dirty grooves of dirty rock bands The Husbands and The White Apes to the Testors' surf-punk to the methodic hardcore of Loincloth to the party sounds of Beehive and the Barracudas to the vicious rock and roll riffs of Hot Snakes and The Sultans. The standout songs here are Dan Sartain's "P.C.B. '98" and Rocket from the Crypt's "California Lights," inspired by the action of citizens living near the border of California and Mexico, who "rallied around a hole in the border fence with their car headlights directed towards this weakness in our national security." About half of these songs are exclusive to this compilation while others appear on other Swami Records releases. Check this out! (Swami Records) |
| V/A - Coolidge 50 Congrats to Jack Coolidge for the completion of this near-epic project. 50 bands from 50 states performing their state's song. Remarkably, it's both educational and for the most part, entertaining to listen to. A great resource for the teacher in you. Personal favorites include huffy with "Hail, Vermont," Pee Tanks with "Maryland! My Maryland" and the now-defunct Long Distance Runner with "New York, Our Empire State." (Coolidge) V/A - Damaged Goods Cheap CD Sampler Thingy This is a sampler of the 140+ singles and albums released throughout the ten years of the British label Damaged Goods. Thanks to Damaged Goods for keeping up with the overwhelming output of Billy Childish and Holly Golightly and their various projects (including Thee Headcoats and Thee Headcoatees.) Other DG favorites on this sampler include J Church, Television Personalities, Wat Tyler, Bristols, and the best Manic St. Preachers song ever ("New Art Riot"). Good news too is that Boston-based Surefire Distribution is handling the US distribution for Damaged Goods. (Damaged Goods/Surefire surefire@tiac.net) |
V/A - Take Me Home - A Tribute to John Denver Maybe when I'm eighty years old and my wife is knitting me a new afghan, I'll pull this off the shelf and say, "I remember when Red House Painters dude Mark Kozelek decided to put together a compilation of some decent bands (Tarnation, Bonnie Prince Palace, Low) to pay tribute to...ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHEESEBALLS EVER!!!! WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING? APART FROM HIS TIME ON THE MUPPETS, DO I REALLY GIVE A SH*T ABOUT THE MUSIC OF JOHN DENVER? DID THEY REALLY THINK THEY COULD DO ANYTHING WITH HIS SONGS?" And then they'll take me downstairs for bingo. (Badman Recording Co.) Vic Firecracker - Mixed Not Mastered Ranging from wistful pop to explosive and edgy rock, this EP has plenty of hooks. I have to admit that I'm a sucker for the rock and "elementary is the winner in my book. Three cheers for a good new Boston band!!! (Lunch) |
| V/A - The Eagle Has Landed Goodness!!! A double-12" compilation put out by featuring bands all over the country. I must say that this is some of the finest packaging I've seen in a while. The album cover is a fold out poster-size map, each copy containing a map of a different quadrangle. V/A - Holiday Matinee CD Compilation Volume 2 Holiday Matinee is a publicity company. In the music business, a publicity company seeks to let the press and the public know about the artists and bands on its roster. A publicity company is much like a publicist except that a publicity company features a number of publicists and a roster of clients.This compilation is a sampler of unreleased and previously available songs from their great roster of mostly pop bands (Wheat*, Album Leaf*, Busy Signals*, Tiara*, Bright Eyes, AM/FM*, Tristeza, the Good Life) and a few rock bands (the Faint, Cursive, Mercury Program, Sunday's Best with Blair Shehan from Knapsack/Jealous Sound, and VUE with a live cover of Lou Reed's "Can't Stand It"). *=unreleased tunes (Better Looking Records) |
Vivid Low Sky - music for movies unmade Don't get fooled by the cover! It's a naked girl with guitar covering her titillating regions. I'll tell you now, teenager, that once you peel off the cellophane, she doesn't drop the guitar. So why else would you buy this? I figure either you like Dave Koslowski because he was in Gerty and Liquor Bike and want to hear the songs that he composed while watching TV with the sound turned down. Or you're a Jawbox/Burning Airlines fanatic and want to hear J. Robbins play quiet on two tunes. Or maybe you like instrumental pop tunes. (Plastique Recording Co.) |
| V/A - I Guess This is Goodbye - The Emo Diaries - Chapter
Five Seems to me that if you're not playing punk music these days, chances are you're playing sleepy rock. This album starts off strong enough with great tunes by the White Octave, Slowride, and Reubens Accomplice. I found the rest of the songs kind of sleepy, but some people like the quiet, introspective rock. (Deep Elm) V/A - Lookout! Freakout - Volume 3 Readers largely unfamiliar with Lookout! Records and Panic Button's rosters should track down this compilation immediately as it features the best songs of the bands represented here. Unlike some label compilations, you can actually be assured with this one that you are getting the best representations of the bands present. Kicking off with one of the most recent additions to the label and one of the best up and coming bands in the country, the Washdown, and ending with a live song by the always-interesting, Ted Leo, this album is chock full of gems from some unrecognized artists. Gems by Pretty Girls Make Graves, The Pattern, Yesterday's Kids, The Enemies, Mr. T Experience, Moral Crux, Communique, as well as the last recorded song by American Steel all make this worth picking up. (Lookout! Records/Panic Button) |
|
| MORE REVIEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |