A Coalition Records sampler, Various Artists
I’m still a great believer in sampler CDs as the best way to get a taster of a label’s roster, and ‘back in the day’ getting to Fat Wreck and Epitaph was made possible not by file-sharing, but by purchasing a cut-price CD. It would seem that the advent of the MP3 has hit the compilation market, and with so many labels putting them out, the message has probably been diluted somewhat. As a newcomer to the Coalition Records label, ‘Off Target’ is a fine way to sample what ‘delights’ they have on offer.
I say ‘delights’ rather loosely, because after just a couple of songs it becomes apparent that many of the bands on are just not for me. I didn’t really enjoy the Je Ne Sais Quoi record, so their track falls a bit flat, while what sounds like a dog barking puts me off the jangling guitars that back Feverdream. Oil are much better, Seven Feet Four could probably sit on the Deep Elm roster rather snugly and JR Ewing rock rather nicely.
After a while though, the indie-rock guitars all sound a bit samey. The song structures tend to be rather chaotic, which isn’t my bag, so bands like Wolves and Malkovich, both extremely talented, washed over me. I actually had this on while playing various computer games, and I probably got through three or four complete listens of the whole CD without realising. I think that proves that it just didn’t make any kind of standout impact on me, rather than prove the CD wasn’t that great.
Bands like Kill The Man Who Questions and The Horror rock mind you, so it isn’t all bad. I just think this kind of music isn’t really my thing – so check this out for yourself if you like what you’ve heard of these bands before.
Paul
