The Gone With The Wind of Punk Rock Samplers, Various Artists
When I first saw the track listing for this Kung Fu compilation, I was a little worried. Of the bands featured, I'm only a fan of two, the Ataris and MxPx, and I already owned all of these tracks. So, as I listened with care to the rest, I wasn't disappointed. This is about as good as an hour listening to the intense warblings of Celine Dion, whilst being forced to watch Question Time, with only that fat bird off You've Been Framed for company.
I must be the only person in the world that dislikes the Vandals. Well, I don't hate them , I just think they are spectatcularly overrated. Some of 'Hitler Bad...' is excellent, as is 'Look What I Almost Stepped In,' but on the whole they produce consistently average punk. The tracks on this are all, well, shit basically. 'Elvis Decanter' is from the country and western CD they released, 'Grandpa's Last Christmas' is truly terrible, and 'I Don't Think You're A Slut' sounds like every other Vandals track ever. OK, Kung Fu is the Vandals label, but four tracks from the same band, yet only one from the significantly better Antifreeze and MxPx? Hello...
Josh Freese is in the Vandals. So, yeah call me prejudiced, but I was never really going to like this either. To be fair, 'Playboy Mansion' isn't too bad, but 'Josh Freese Is Ready' is awful. Why sing about yourself, man! Bad lyrics, bad pace, bad vocals, it's just plain bad.
The less said about Apocalypse Hoboken the better I think. The Assorted Jelly Beans aren't too bad, but then again, they're not too good either.
So, thank god for some good stuff. The Ataris are superb, even if the tracks on this aren't the best they've ever done. But it's a nice spread of what the band are capable of, and 'Hey Kid' is the best song on this CD. I don't really like Bigwig too much either (they're metal/punk in my opinion), but 'Smile' really stands out here, and 'Falling Down' is ok.
MxPx are one of the finest pop-punk bands around, and 'GSF,' albeit a good song, is not a fair reflection of the band. Taken from 'At The Show' their live record, this is the slowest thing from it. Not a fair reflection of what the band are capable of, so why Kung Fu is this song here?
Useless I.D. come from Israel. Although I swear they come from California. They have a standard pop-punk sound, which is pretty likable, especially as they were produced by Ataris god Kris Roe. Antifreeze are also ok, but again nothing spectacular. 'Ordinary' is
a good song, even if one of the vocalists does sound a little too much like Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 fame than is neccessary.
So, avoid like the plague. It's not good and it's not clever. There are some good bands here, but the choice of songs is very strange. There are some far superior compilations out there, such as the Fat Wreck ones. Waste £5 on those, and not this pile of poo.
Paul Savage
