Four-band all-star 7″ from No Idea Records here, featuring Hot Water Music, Discount, Avail and the Weakerthans. All 4 tracks are taken from a comp CD that some other label put out, but NI decided to half inch the better ones and put them all on a single 7″ to save you the bother. And anyway, vinyl is cooler than CDs.
This kicks off with Hot Water Music performing a rip roaring cover of the Leatherface classic, “Springtime.” This is worth the price of admission alone. Certainly it’s my favourite Leatherface track, and Hot Water Music do it rock justice. Their saccharine growls are hardly sand-papered Frankie, but the job is well done, and the lyrics are awesome, whoever sings them. Avail follow it with a pretty standard cover of “Suspicious Minds.” Pretty blah really. Mid-paced rock music with the guy from Avail singing.
Over on the flip, Discount play a song that sounds like stuff from their last album. It’s called “Trouble in the Sky,” and it’s in that quirkier, more hardcore influenced style that they were starting to venture towards. Alison’s vocals add pep, the song is melodic and catchy but maintains a darker edge. Uh huh, pretty solid stuff. Finally, the Weakerthans chip in with a damn fine song of country-ish indie rock. The Weakerthans are truly brilliant and this is no different. The repetitive guitar riff ingrains itself in your head and you slowly tap your toe on the carpet. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was some old protest song that they’ve covered here, especially knowing the bands approach to politics. Combine it with the great vocals and you have all the ingredients you need. Weakerthans rock. No questions asked.
Green vinyl for extra nerd points.