Labels: No Idea Records
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Forget the fact that Atom is in this band, he doesn’t sing much, and you wouldn’t know otherwise. Remember the fact that this is on No Idea, and that therefore it is almost guaranteed to be good.
Lets narrow it down a bit. Some of the best pop punk out there comes courtesy of No Idea-ites, Radon and Fay Wray. And that’s the exact direction that the best material on this discography CD is coming from, with the first 13 tracks being the best (those being the ones taken from their only album and a 7″ – the liner notes here say “i think 500 of these were pressed, but it could have only been 300 (We were huge)”). The kind of free-wheeling poppy punk songs that are both super melodic, danceable, and crunchy at the same time, much like the stuff on Dillinger 4’s compilation CD. The type of music that would have you just going off at a show, jumping about and running all around with a great big smile on your face. Particularly for the part where Atom wails “Leaving, on a jet plane! Don’t know when I’ll be back again!”. The first 13 just fly by and are totally cohesive, not leaving you a second to pause for breathe. The reason they stand out from the pack, like D4, Radon and Fay Wray, is the top notch vocals, and the hundred and one neat little touches that they throw into songs to keep you unbalanced. Additionally, it sounds great loud, and after beer consumption.
The last 6 tracks are much earlier efforts, and a lot weaker. They do some ska punk on these. But never mind.
Fracture save pop punk! Really. Shame they split up 4 years ago.