Such is the nature of a ‘rarities’ album it’s usually only the die-hard fan that truly appreciates the content. Really that’s the way it should be, a little gift from a band to those that have been through thick and thin with them. Having now racked up an impressive 17 years as a band Strung Out has a fair whack of gifts to be handing out and Fat Wreck has conveniently wrapped them all together in this nice and neat package.
The crux of ‘Prototypes and Painkillers’ is made up of outtakes, compilation tracks, bonus songs and out-of-print releases that only an obsessive fanatic will have managed to collect. Some are easily available (‘a cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Bark At The Moon’ and an acoustic version of ‘Velvet Alley’ both appear on the ‘Punk Goes…’ series), others obvious (anything on the Fat Wreck compilation series), whilst some prove to be dusty gems (‘Lost Motel’ and ‘Dig’ I believe are from the Fat monthly music club, and ‘Ghost Town‘ and ‘Barfly’ emerge from the ‘Crossroads & Illusions’ E.P. that found the light of day in 1998 prior to the ‘Twisted By Design’ L.P.
It is however the additional seven unreleased tracks on here that means that this will instantly prove to be a necessary collectable. As you’d imagine these songs represent a good cross-section of the Strung Out sound that has evolved. ‘Pleather’ has that SoCal skater-punk sound to it. ‘Sinner or Coward?’ is a bit more straight-up punk, full of angst and snot-nosed attitude. ‘Night of the Necro’ has a rapid machine-gun drumming approach that hints at the heavier sound the band has more recently adopted. Closers ‘Ashes’ and ‘Forever Is Today’ are both roughly cut demo mixes that pretty much feature all of the above. Amongst all of these a cover of ‘I’m Not a Loser’ by The Descendents proves to be a doffing of the cap to a true peer.
As far as these types of releases go, ‘Prototypes and Painkillers’ proves to be a solid album, most likely a result of a band that’s not afraid to diversify. The appeal of this record doesn’t stop at fans only either. Newcomers will be able to get something out of this, not least because the standard of each song means it doesn’t ever really feel like a compilation. Strung Out obviously takes pride in each individual song regardless of its final destination. Really that’s not all that surprising; a band simply doesn’t stick around for nearly two decades and sell in excess of a million records without having some true quality behind them.
Fans don’t need to be told to rush out and grab this. Newcomers and those with a passing interest shouldn’t be put-off; this is tight, well compiled and enjoyable.
Alex