The Secret Weapons of Kung Fu 2, Various Artists
You've gotta love Kung Fu Records - if it's not their cheap ass sampler CDs that get you, the cheap ass DVDs will. For the bargain price of around £6 you should be able to get your grubby mits on this, the label's second DVD sampler showcasing videos from bands past and present on its roster. For the most part this acts in the same way as the CD samplers do, except you can see, not just hear, your favourite bands in action. There are lots of vids on offer here, with the added bonus that several are live ones, meaning it's not just the polished studio version, but the blood, sweat and tears that you can see as well.
So, what do we have on offer? Well most of these videos are yet to grace UK TV screens, so it is easily value for money, even if the prospect of three Ozma videos is a little too much in my opinion. Audio Karate kick things off with the fantastic 'Jesus Is Alive And Well...', a vid which will surely help propel them into the next stage of super-stardom. Live vids from Poison The Well and The Ataris, who bring 'So Long Astoria' from the Warped Tour into the mix, also work very nicely. Then there are live vids from Goldfinger and Zebrahead, both of which showcase their respective talents rather nicely.
On the downside there's the terrible Vandals video for '3,2,1,0,-1' and the strange choice to include three Ozma videos. Now I think the Rivers Cuomo-obsessed Nintendo-core wannabes are actually pretty cool, but the trio of clips on offer is overkill. One Man Army don't really impress too much either, while the Neil Hamburger skit is frankly appalling.
When it's good, it's very good, but when it's bad this DVD is pretty shocking. Still, at such a low price this disc is probably worth your pennies, even if it won't become an all-time classic in your collection.
www.kungfurecords.com
Paul
