Fat Music Vol. VI: Uncontrollable Fatulence, Various Artists
Label compilations always tend to be a mixed bag. On one hand you
can check out the entire roster of bands on the label, but more
often than not you are handed a bunch of songs you have heard before
and the 'unreleased' tracks are there for a reason - they couldn't
make the final cut before. Luckily, Fat Wreck Chords have a
rather broad range of bands these days and the eighteen track comp
features no more than eleven unreleased tracks with most being of a
high standard.
The Lawrence Arms open the album in fine form with 'presenting: the
dancing machine' which is full of the Chicago trio's trademarks with
stoney guitars and gruff vocals. Unfortuantly Propagandhi were
unable to present us with anything new and 'Back to the Motor
League' was bunged on there to appease any new fans unfamiliar with
their work. Mad Caddies 'Leavin' is a standard pop-punky-ska affair
from their latest album 'Just One More'. 'Never Stops', from the
forthcoming Lagwagon album, is one of the highlights and bodes
extremley well for the future. Strung Out and Rise Against both
offer impressive unreleased tracks in the form of 'Your worst
mistake' and 'Generation Lost' respectively.
The Swingin Utters are another band to throw on a track from their
recent album 'Dead Flowers, Bottles, Bluegrass, and Bones' which,
when the comp was released, was a taster of things to come for
'Utters fans and the track is certainly brash in content and
impressive by nature. The forgotten men of punk down under, Frenzal
Rhomb, bounce back with 'cocksucker' - a rather sombre number by
their high standards but one which nevertheless hits the spot. 'Federation' is your standard Anti-Flag song and 'Mattersville' is what you have come to expect from NOFX. One of the surprises of the album is Wizo with 'I hate you'. I have never been a particular fan of the band, but this track has encouraged me to give them a second look. The album ends on a high with Me First & The Gimme Gimmes covering the
Sinnead 'O Conner classic 'Nothing Compares to you'. Some covers can
be mundane and dull but this is how they should be done. Marvellous.
And so ends the Fat fest, and for no more than $5 off the Fat Wreck
website you really can't argue. With over half of the album filled
with material you may not have heard of from your favorite band it is
too good a CD to turn down. The weaker tracks on the album are few
and far between and the stand-outs from the Lawrence Arms, Lagwagon
and MFATGG make the purchase all the more neccasery. Be Fat or be
square.
Jay
