Labels: Boss Tuneage
Review by: MH
Boss Tuneage have been putting out some significant discographies in the past six months or so and this one is no different. This double CD contains everything that Blocko ever recorded on the first CD plus some alternative mixes and live footage on the second CD. If that’s not enough there is also a DVD with live footage from a gig at The Underworld in Camden that I may or may not have been at. They were in the top set of melodic punk bands if you ask me and their sound was similar to the likes of Leatherface and Broccoli – perhaps slightly less direct in their sound and with longer songs than Leatherface, and featuring some of the jangly guitar and emo leanings that were part of Broccoli’s sound. There is also a bit of Mega City Four’s poppiness in there too.
I find writing about discographies quite difficult particularly for a band I rate as highly as Blocko as it is difficult to do them justice with so many tracks on offer and no-one wants to hear me wittering me on incessantly about all 31 tracks (although admittedly the last few are live recordings of the same songs). I’ll just pick out a few songs and prove what a lazy reviewer I am instead. “Fibs” makes an appearance – one of my favourite songs of this type of music, not just by this band – a gutsy tune with defiant lyrics and probably their defining moment. The inward-looking “Drag” and the more crashing, mid-paced “Disdain” from their “Edmonson Avenue” album are also superb.
I was thinking I’d have to listen to this in stages with there being so many songs but it appears that I am more than happy to listen to that many Blocko songs in one go. I still dig out their stuff reasonably regularly and being sent this CD gave me another chance to revisit them. It’d be great if people who missed out on this band the first time around got to hear them via this discography.