Hmm, that titles debatable, as there’s 1 or 2 absolutely shit bands on here, yet a couple of the better bands like Annalise and Travis Cut ain’t. Neither are any of the great nu-wave of bands like Pylon, Babies 3, Silencer 7, Sunfactor and all them lot. Still, it’s a neat document of the UK scene and it isn’t even on a British label, rather the rock-tastic Snuffy Smile from Japan. Wahey!
Band versus Band!
- Spy versus Spy – a slightly altered version of “Helpless, Sign In Please”, a bit rougher, but evidence of why they should be considered the greatest band on our shores until further evidence presents itself. With equal doses of energy and prettiness, this totally killer Braid style emo anthem is ace, my friend
- One Car Pile Up – a long with Otherwise (who are another band missing from this comp), One Car are the best exponents of the traditional Fat sound in the Uk. On record, yup, extremely solid band, and live they’re not bad either
- Grover – I’ve not heard anything yet from Grover that lived up to their raging debut 7″, and this doesn’t help matters in that regard, though it doesn’t suck either. Fast, raw, kinda melodic punk rock, probably like some American band I don’t listen to
- Destructos – this is crappy demo quality pop punk, but at least it’s not as bad as Winner (who fortunately don’t feature here)
- Red Monkey – A band I’ve been interested to hear, and certainly the band that fits least well on this comp, being more punk rock in stance than sound. Female fronted arty, oddball, lo-fi indie…sort of. Hard to listen to! Original though, and not at all bad
- Raggity Anne – Catchy poppy punk rock which would be really cool with a little more production. Infact, with a bit more balls it would have come off as being like one of the songs off Dillinger 4’s “This Shit Is Genius” comp, just with dumber lyrics
- Servo – I think this is a different version of “Vice Versa”, my favourite Servo song. It sounds kind of live, and a bit slower, and Carolyn’s vocals aren’t so effective. Anyway, Servo are one of the best exponents of the Snuffy Smile sound in the UK, mixing up cool bits of Blew and Navel, and they have a split with the mighty Lovemen out on Rumblestrip soon. Can’t wait!
- Vanilla Pod – A long with Annalise, ver Pod are the best melodic punk rock band in the UK, and “Once Was Home” is my favourite song that they’ve come up with yet. Kicks off slow, before firing off at light-speed then into a really catchy tune with awesome chorus, backup vocals and awesome backup screams. This rules, people
- Beauty School Dropout – Up there with Travis Cut and Skimmer in ruling the pop punk roost, the Beauty Schoolers offer up the pacy and tuneful “Pass The Buck”. High pitched vocals, fun band
- Month of Birthdays – “Denial of Vice” doesn’t compare too well to the brand new album, but this is a decent introduction to their post-hardcore sounds, reminding a bit of K454 in places. Cath’s shoutier vocals grate a bit here, which is not something that the album suffers from
- Griswalds – bullshit Ramones style crap that drones on for what seems like forever. What is the point? I can’t believe bands still get away with this. At least they have handclaps
- Oh No Express – phew, this is more like it. Chris Hooton 3 Car has gotten back in a band, and come up with a split 7″ from which this song is taken. And very good it is too. Melodic emoey punk / indie rock. The bass at the beginning reminds me of the Promise Ring. The rest is a bit like Broccoli’s album stuff fronted by a singer who doesn’t have rocks in his throat
- Cone – Are these guys still going? Had a 7″ out on Crackle a long time ago, then nothing, which is a damn shame. This flying pop punk song really suggests they should be doing more. Like Dillinger 4 with a little less of the oomph and grit. Fucking rock!
- Dropout – Dunno anything about these guys, and this 15 second number is pretty pointless. What a great advert for the band. Duh!
- Cleatus – hmm, they are from Harlow, poor guys. Think that explains why they sound so much like Travis Cut too. This is really rather good, with a great riff. Dashed fine UK style pop punk
- Lithium Joe – fun pop punk with a ska beat and slightly odd high pitched vocals. More pop than punk, but that’s a problem? Yeah, this grew on me
- Scarper! – ah, a track from SKArper! Ha ha, not really. They just have a trumpet. Super poppy punk that you can’t help but bounce round the room to. “Picking Sides” is a great song, but you already have the 7″ so you know that yourself
- Dagobah – from the sadly departed Dagobah guys we have “Waste”, and a waste it was indeed that those guys had to go their seperate ways. This is high speed melodic punk with great vocals and I always want to hurl myself around my bedroom to it, playing air guitar and leaping about. A great live band that would be up there with the likes of Vanilla Pod if they were still around. RIP
- Mouthwash – it says here that Hellcat are getting them to record stuff. You what! Energetic (make that energeneric) ska punk mediocrity. This is what Symposium sounded like before they put out any records
- Newtown Grunts – fast, melodic drunk punk from these Scots who have a hundred vocalists and something to say. Good track, not too raw, nice variation in speeds and really rockin’. Nothing wrong with this is at all
- the ‘Tone – I can’t believe these guys are touring the US with D4 and Discount! I wanna go to every show! Don’t turn up late if you live in the States and have the chance to go see ’em, cos the ‘Tone are one of the best live bands in the UK, and I’ve seen them like 6 times somehow, they follow me about. The ‘Tone, rippin’ off the Clash and proud. Yay!
- Write Offs – Ooh, nice sax. Think we’re in for some ska. Yup. I don’t care
- Southport – Ian would swim round the world to tell you how good these guys with an ex-Snuff member are. I was pretty impressed when I saw them live both times, and this is decent emoish melodic hardcore that is seriously reminding me of someone. Oh, I know what it’s reminding me of – this song when I saw them play it live. It was the best one they did. Yay! Very good indeed
So overall, if you don’t know much about UK punk and you think you oughta, this is for you – shame so much of it is previously released. And if you are a fan of cats, you’ll love the cover. On the subject of cats, a cat broke into my bedroom last night! This is the second time this has happened now. My room is upstairs, but the cat somehow had gotten on the roof of the house, and then come in through a wide open window! I was awoken when I heard what sounded like someone typing. Infact it was a cat called Thackeray walking around on my keyboard.