Short Music For Short People, Various Artists
"Why don't people understand, I've got a short attention span, a short attention span." Is there a more fitting fisrt song to a compilation than that of the Fizzy Bangers? I doubt it. Welcome to a world where 101 bands play 30 second songs. It's fucking great too...
Imagine all your favourite punk bands, all shapes and sizes, skate-punk to ska to hardcore all on one CD. Well, 'Short Music For Short People' is that CD. Whoever came up with the idea deserves a hell of a lot of credit. For this CD is nothing short of genius.
As with any compilation, some of this is absolute toss. But for every three bad songs, there's one anthem. Less Than Jake star with live fave 'Anthem,' Teen Idols blast their way through 'Ketchup Soup,' and Germany's Terrorgruppe tell us that 'All Cops Are Bastards.' Add Good Riddance, Chixdiggit, The Living End and Bad Religion, and you've just completed FOUR minutes of music!
Nerf Herder, them of Buffy fame, drop in the classic 'Doin Laundry,' and Unwritten Law spice things up with 'Armageddon Singalong.' And The Ataris are quite right when they tell us 'The Radio Still Sucks.' All anthems, and they're all here. "Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucking motherfucker, tits, fart, turd and twat." Yep, it could only be those loveable rogues Blink 182, and their now famous track 'Family Reunion' made its debut on 'Short Music...'
Add No Use For A name's blinding 'Sara Fisher,' Green Day's fine 'Ballad Of Wilhelm Fink' and Lagwagon's 'Randall Gets Drunk,' and you can sense a pattern emerging. Top quality punk choons from some top quality punk bands. Add a sprinkling of the wicked Bracket, the Descendents, Dance Hall Crashers and Limp, then mix them with old-skool heroes Circle Jerks, Citizen Fish and The Dickies, and you can really see that there is something for everyone. And we are still not even half way through!
The Mad Caddies, Offspring, Strung Out, Pulley, The Vandals and Pennywise take the number of bands over the 50 mark, but there's still some unbelievable tracks to come. NOFX ask us to 'See Her Pee' and Rancid are 'Blacklisted.' Diesel Boy provide the most excellent 'Chandeliers and Souvenirs' and Frenzal Rhomb add an Australian flavour to proceedings. Useless ID and Bouncing Souls even get in on the act. And let's not forget Snuff, Bodyjar, H20 and Ten Foot Pole.
Of course there is some utter shit on here. Wizo, GWAR, Guttermouth, Groovie Ghoulies, Spazz, Sick Of It All, The Real McKenzies, Dwarves and Lunachicks provide some absolute toss. But hey, I guess it's greedy to expect the moon on a stick, huh?
For anyone new to the world of punk, buy this CD. With so much here, it's a great starting point for people looking to get into new stuff. And for the punk veteran, there is bound to be something here to whet your apetite. And, wait for it, you can get this for under $10 or £6! And it's not even Christmas! Yet... But seriously kids, this really ought to be at the top of those lists asking for stuff from Santa this year.
Paul Savage
