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Various

Atticus ...Dragging the Lake II
2003
SideOneDummy

Various - Atticus ...Dragging the Lake II (Cover Artwork)

Review by: Adam
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Published on March 18th 2003

I’ve yet to grasp the purpose for these compilations. They’re not label samplers, treasure troves of unreleased material, nor do they have any overall lyrical or musical theme. All I can ascertain is that the Atticus compilations seem to be a yearly collection of songs with a clothing company’s name attached. With the goal of an honest review I’ll withhold the voice in my head that’s screaming about excessive branding and music commodification. The connection between a record label and selling music seems far less superfluous than that of a clothing-company.

However despite these reservations over its motive, musically this record tops its predecessor in nearly all respects. The album kicks off with Rocket From The Crypt’s “I’m Not Invisible” followed by Hot Water Music’s “Remedy” and Thrice’s “To Awake And Avenge The Dead.” Not that any of these are unreleased, but it’s a solid group of rocking tracks that give this an overall mix-tape feel. Similarly there’s a good sampling of album cuts from Dillinger Four, The Suicide Machines, Jets To Brazil and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. While these were previously released they’re all generally strong songs that keep the disc buoyant.

As for the unreleased material, The Dropkick Murphys cover the traditional “Fields Of Athenry” in epic sing-along fashion. A more fully realized version of Sparta's "Vacant Skies" evokes the same killer atmospheres that they did on their full length. Not to be outdone, Rise Against’s “Heaven Knows” proves once again why they’ve garnered such admiration in the punk scene. While decent, Maxeen’s “Soleil” sounds deceptively emo at times and isn’t the best example of the band’s infectious new-wave influenced material. There’s a very pleasing simplicity to Down By Law’s “Next To Go,” a skate punk track with a late 80s feel.

Not everything is as effective. Blink 182’s over-produced “Don’t Tell Me That It’s Over” sounds glaringly out of place here. Despite some experimentation, I still can’t shake the feeling that I’ve already heard every Finch song a year ago from Glassjaw; “Worms Of The Universe” is no exception. I was hoping for a better first impression of Matchbook Romance, as their “Greatest Fall Of All Time” will sound embarrassingly dated as soon as the emo tide ebbs.

The album closes on a harder note with great cuts from Over My Dead Body and Bane. Bane in particular brings a great change of pace to the compilation and hopefully should prove eye opening to some of the more mainstream audience. Finishing things off is a live recording of the Alkaline Trio's "Crawl." Being a BBC Sessions track it's excellent sound quality and will surely be appreciated by their legions of fans.

All in all there is a fair amount of interesting stuff on “…Dragging The Lake II.” With less blatantly trend-of-the-moment material this disc should have a bit longer shelf life then the first. Pick it up for the Dropkick Murphys, Sparta and Rise Against gems.

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Posted by poolboy on 2004-09-17 16:34:11
My Score:

I'll just put it this way. This cd explains the different kinds of music I listen too. Though my favorite band is Blink 182, by far, without question, THE BEST SONG on this cd is Rise Against's Heaven Knows. And for everyone who doesn't like this stuff just look at the back of the cd, it's not that hard to see what's crap(Jets to brazil) and what's good(thrice).

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 20, 2003 at 10:46 PM (EDT)
My Score:

All of the cocksuckers further down this list that are complaining about this album's cover are really reaching for reasons to bitch. Whiny pussies.
While this album lacked some of the headlining names of the previous one (New found Glory, The Used, GlassJaw, Jimmy Eat World) it brought in some new or up-and-coming names (Thrice, Taking Back Sunday, Transplants, Matchbook Romance) and showed returns for Atticus allumi (Blink 182, Lagwagon, Box Car Racer, The Bosstones, and Alkaline Trio).
When you look at the whole album, you have to admit this album is harder than the previous one. It seems to have more smaller name garage and emo-core bands and less pop-punk than before. Mostly, it’s a much better album.
I felt unfulfilled with the reviewer’s pansy ass attempt at journalism, so decided to do a full-scale review of my own. Here's a rundown of my opinion on all the songs, and there are a lot:

1. Rocket From The Crypt - I'm not Invisible = It has a strong intro. It kind of sounds like Bad Religion or something. An allright start to the CD.

2. Hot Water Music - Remedy = The vocals are strong in the chorus, but the verses and pretty much the whole rest of the song are weak in comparison. Plus I didn't like that this just sounds like a caffeinated version of the last song.

3. Thrice - To Awake and avenge the dead = Kicks the shit out of the last two songs and is easily the best song so far on the album. I was disappointed that The Used wasn't on this CD, but emo bands like this and matchbook romance almost made me forget how disheartened I was, almost.

4. Finch - Worms Of The Universe = Definitely Glassjaw inspired. This song has a really metal intro and the vocalist does a pretty good Daryll Pallumbo impression throughout the song. The song 'What it is to Burn' would've been better on this CD than this karaoke act. I can't even listen to these guys anymore since they cancelled out of Warped Tour.

5. Dropkick Murphys - Fields Of Athenry = Ya love em or hate em. I love em. This is such a great song bagpipe or no bagpipe. Nuff Said.

6. Blink 182 - Don't Tell Me that it's over = Technically this song isn't unreleased, it was on the green 'Take off your pants' CD but it's one of my favourite recent Blink songs. It reminds me of their Enema of The State glory days and sounds a little like the song Dysentary Gary or something of that fashion. Despite what the reviewer said I don't think it sounds out-of-place, or over-produced at all, compared to some of Blink's new layered instrument tracks. I hope their new album (due out this summer) has some tracks like this that are reminiscent of their older stuff.

7. Sparta - Vacant Skies = It sounds like these members of the former "At the Drive-in" have taken a ritalin and some vocal lessons. This song was great and almost comes off sounding inspirational. An excellent track.

8. Slick Shoes - Once Again = a pretty bland selection. It's all right, but I don't think it's fair Slick Shoes has appeared on both CD's. New Found Glory would've been better and more deserving of this spot on the CD.

9. Dillinger Four - Noble Stabbings = The vocals during the verses are almost lost underneath the great guitar noise, but the song is still a good one.

10. Suicide Machines - All My People = An alright old-schooly song. It sounds a lot like the Lagwagon and H20 songs on here. I’m kind of getting sick of all these teen-anthem-type songs that are coming out like this or Good Charlotte, or the H20 song on here.

11. Lagwagon - E. Dagger = It's a good song. It sounds like they’re singing about ecstacy, but it’s probably just my imagination

12. Maxeen - Soliel = It's pretty emotional and wimpy when compared to others on this CD, but I thought it was all right.

13. Further Seems Forever - Pride War = This sounds like a mildly more emotional 3 Doors Down and by more emotional, I mean they croon "Hold On!" a lot at the end. It's pretty shitty.

14. Jets To Brazil - William Tell Override = Easily the crappiest, pussiest song on the whole album - Both Atticus albums for that matter. This isn't punk. I don't know what this is. It sounds incredibly similar to Smash Mouth in every way and I’m not even close to joking, especially the singer. Anyone that likes this song should definitely try listening to "Allstar" and "Walking on the sun" by Smash Mouth, you also might want to consider practising giving blow-jobs because you’re a fucking fagot.

15. Boxcar Racer - All Systems Go = Finally, a decent song after all of that feces. I really like the drums in this song, Travis can really whale as you can also hear in songs 6 and 16. This isn't my favourite boxcar song but I think it's more appealing than "tiny Voices" from the last Atticus CD. In my humble opinion, "The End with you" or "Letters To God" would've been better tracks on this CD than this one.

16. Transplants - One seventeen = A shockingly hard song when compared to the other songs so far. I wish the Transplants did less talking about gats and less guest appearances By Son Dubious. I don't like this song very much, but the transplants CD has a good, unique sound that mixes punk, hip-hop, and some reggae. I'd recommend picking it up.

17. H20 - All We want = All of the people who complain about guys who sing about life in high school when they're really 25, should take a listen to these fellas. This song is pretty catchy, it captures adolescence perfectly - But these guys are at middle age. I was at their concert last year, and they were easily the oldest guys at the show, or in the whole venue. Soon they'll just be awkwardly old and maybe then they'll fade into obscurity.

18. Taking Back Sunday - You're So Last Summer = The lyrics range from Not-that-deep, (ie. Unless I have to I'll do what I got to), to not-so-profound (ie. Never really did ever quite get that far) but the vocalist adds layers and layers of depth and emotion. This song is fucking great.

19. Rise against - Heaven Knows = This is one of the best emo-core songs I've heard in a while, The guitar cuts and the vocalist does an amazing job. I think these guys are easily better than the likes of Hot Water Music and Hot Rod Circuit. I hope they start to go big, just to give all you whiny duschebags something to bitch about.

20. Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Jackknife to a swan = I liked this better than most Bosstones songs because there was less horns the usual. It was really good.

21. Matchbook Romance – The Greatest fall = The reviewer said this song was good, but would fade away when the whole emo-scene fades down, I couldn’t disagree more. This isn’t just a great emo song, it’s just a plain old great song. These guys are able to use background screaming and soft singing very effectively. I like this scream-o stuff and think it’ll stay around for longer then the reviewer does. It’ll probably take the place of all the pop-punk bands on Much Music and MTV.

22. Hot Rod Circuit – Misled = It’s all right, but sounds mediocre after the last 4 songs. It’s kinda pussy sounding – pretty soft and slow paced, and short.

23. Down By Law – Next To go = I liked this song because it sounds like these guys are just jamming in a garage or something. The guitar and drum sound great in this song. After the first minute though, the song slows down and they seem to lose energy.

24. Over My Dead Body – Be there = This isn’t anything special. It sounds like garage rock again, but sucky this time. At least it’s really short.

25. Bane – Some Came running = This song’s not too bad. The singer really uses his whole voice to sing. He goes from straight talking to yelling then back again in seconds. It was effective for the most part though.

26. Alkaline Trio – Crawl = This is a pretty standard Alk trio song, nothing too spectacular, but it’s live so it sounds cool. I didn’t like that during the verse the singer just plain talks, the chorus is good though.

And so this is the end, we’ve come so far, faithful reader. In closing,
Fuck you, you major-label boycotting, “You’re a sell-out, I’m punker than you are! I hate Blink but can’t stop talking about them” Mallrat cocksmokers (You know who you are).
Sincerely,
Sick of You All

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 25, 2003 at 1:00 AM (EST)
My Score:

what the hell are you talking about man????? the matchbox romance song on this cd is so fucking amazing! the chorus is just awesome. how could you not like it? the chorus is like a lot of hardcore breakdowns mixed in. it's so cool. if you don't like this song- listen to it again, and during the chorus- listen to the bass drum in the background- it kicks so much ass.

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, March 24, 2003 at 9:03 PM (EST)
My Score:

"High school was kind of like that."

Oh, so you're just some loser drone from high school who is trying to be "indie" or "punk" now? Fuck you.

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, March 24, 2003 at 5:32 PM (EST)
My Score:

im a fan of touching my ass with a feather.

-sk8punx4evr

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, March 24, 2003 at 11:57 AM (EST)
My Score:

Atticus = lame rock, not punk rock.

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, March 24, 2003 at 12:44 AM (EST)
My Score:

"Atticus drones have already seeped into my school, as they probably have yours too."

Yeah dude, whatever. High school was kind of like that. Good job being such a punk.

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, March 23, 2003 at 7:21 PM (EST)
My Score:

alright, look all you assholes, i dont understand why you people thought this was going to be a good punk rock cd. mark hoppus is linked to it. he is not in a punk rock band. hes in a pop punk band. so dont go buying the album thinking its gonna be hardcore punk. for all you people that pretend not to like this music so you just seem more punk, more power to you. you guys are to harcore for me.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 22, 2003 at 5:57 PM (EST)
My Score:

">>'whats with the cd cover anyways? whats it supposed to mean? anything? '

>>it's pretty deep..think long and hard about it

>>Its a dead bird, in referrence to "To Kill a Mockingbird" whos lead character is Atticus Finch? Wow, deep..."

>>is sarcasm THAT hard to grasp? come on man..."

yea, i was the one who was joking when i said it was deep and to think hard about it. hahaa

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 22, 2003 at 11:34 AM (EST)
My Score:

The Jets To Brazil song is SO much better than anything else on here.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 22, 2003 at 10:09 AM (EST)
My Score:

alkaline trio is sooo good..........

Posted by sloppyblake on 2003-03-21 21:24:11
My Score:

i know blink. i know their manager rick. blink aren't realy in this for the money. they don't even own it. brian and ben do. they just lend them money to get it off so bands can have a place to hang out.

and on another note, the new alkaline trio album is amazing.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 21, 2003 at 3:38 PM (EST)
My Score:

RFTC owns.

Posted by punkboy_1 on 2003-03-21 10:33:19
My Score:

i think a lot of people will buy this for the blink, boxcar and finch type bands, and will discover a lot of new bands. i think this is a good thing because of that.

Posted by BostonMusicGuy on 2003-03-21 01:07:31
My Score:

People just assume this cd is bad because Mark Hoppus of blink 182 endorses Atticus. But you all forget that Side One Dummy is one of the best labels out right now. I mean fuck, Bosstones, Suicide Machines, Flogging Molly, Mad Cap, and Avoid One Thing... thats a fucking label. Who cares that they have a few main stream bands like Finch and stuff on it. You can skip over those tracks. The cd is cheap enough for you to go out and buy it and support Side One Dummy.-BostonMusicGuy

Posted by lagwager on 2003-03-21 00:23:53
My Score:

!!!DONT BUY THIS ALBUM!!!
Please, even though it does have a few good songs you should not support this crappy set up by hurley or blink 182, or whoever is doing this, maybe even Satan himself. There are better ways to get the few songs that are good on this comp. You cannot allow yourself, a self-respecting member of the punk rock community, to allow this to happen. Atticus drones have already seeped into my school, as they probably have yours too. Support the real bands, not a clothing company!

Posted by waste_elite on 2003-03-20 23:21:17
My Score:

">>'whats with the cd cover anyways? whats it supposed to mean? anything? '

>>it's pretty deep..think long and hard about it

Its a dead bird, in referrence to "To Kill a Mockingbird" whos lead character is Atticus Finch? Wow, deep..."

is sarcasm THAT hard to grasp? come on man...

Posted by at_the_drive_in_21 on 2003-03-20 23:20:19
My Score:

Ha ha, Kelly Osbourne looks like Porky Pig's girlfriend Petunia Pig. Especially with that black hair in that second video of hers. As for the album, don't know - don't have it.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 20, 2003 at 9:47 PM (EST)
My Score:

Okay...first off, I LOVE the BossToneS, so don't even say they suck without looking like a retarded pedophile...as far as Matchbook Romance goes, BACK THE F**K OFF YOU PEICE OF S**T NAYSAYERS. They got signed back in June when gay ass The Used was throwing up on stage in their friends backyards and the singer was having wetdreams of Kelly Osbourne (damn shes fine...)A large amount of the bands on that comp are better than your lame ass, puke on stage, indie/emo/garage punk band, so dont call any of them worthless. SUICIDE MACHINES are amazing, hands down. The Bosstones still rock. And as far as Matchbook Romance goes, they have more talent than a prostitute juggling refrigerators with her feet while taking it in all three holes...trust me, thats alot of talent. The Getaway, as I still refer to them as, are not, nor were they ever, apart of the trend hopping puke on stage scene that seems to be rearing its ugly head in clubs. They're fucking amazing. Bill Cosby is the man and I love pudding, give me 5 dollars...slut

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 20, 2003 at 9:23 PM (EST)
My Score:

atticus shirts and this cd get me laid.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 20, 2003 at 6:33 PM (EST)
My Score:

>>'whats with the cd cover anyways? whats it supposed to mean? anything? '

>>it's pretty deep..think long and hard about it

Its a dead bird, in referrence to "To Kill a Mockingbird" whos lead character is Atticus Finch? Wow, deep...

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 20, 2003 at 3:51 PM (EST)
My Score:

Dave Chapelle......YES!

Posted by pope_schlomo on 2003-03-20 15:26:09
My Score:

Matchbook Romance is a typical band that wants in on that whole Used/Taking Back Sunday/Finch/Glassjaw bandwagon. In other news for the jews to use, I saw a bit of Dave Chapelle mimicking GTA but I was too busy talking on the phone. Can't wait to see it on Sunday.

Ramo

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 20, 2003 at 10:20 AM (EST)
My Score:

This score is for Matchbook Romance. That band is terrible. Kids, I wouldn't recommend listening to this band very much, its bad for your stereo's speakers.

-sickboi

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 20, 2003 at 10:19 AM (EST)
My Score:

This score is for the Rise Against song.

-sickboi

Posted by pope_schlomo on 2003-03-20 02:50:00
My Score:

i'm an ass. finch is NOT cool. sorry for the error.

Ramo

Posted by pope_schlomo on 2003-03-20 02:47:43
My Score:

Hey im back from the dead...anyway i say comps like Atticus is used to introduce people to punk rock. Here are the stats sports fans:

Cool: RFTC, Hot Water Music, Finch, Rise Against, Bane, Ak3 live

Bad: Why does Finch still rip off Glassjaw?
Why they put crappy songs like Slick Shoes, H2O, Matchbook Ramance (Mr. Brett, what were you thinking), Maxeen, Hot Rod Circuit, Transplants?
Does the word mediocrity come out when you heard that Lagwagon song?
Is this the only way to get Blink 182 and Boxcar Racer more exposure?
Couldn't they pick another Dillinger 4 song?

In conclusion, A2 suffers the same flaws from the first one: a couple of jewels in a sea of crap.

Ramo

Posted by Fuzzy on 2003-03-19 23:30:25
My Score:

"As much as I love the new Mighty Mighty Bosstones cd, "Jacknife to a Swan" is deffinately the worst song on there.. I have no clue as to why it appeared on this compilation"
That's not true. In fact, that's one of the best old school DKHTP-era style songs they've written in a longtime. I wish they were playing it live more, rather than Mr. Moran.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 at 10:49 PM (EST)
My Score:

'whats with the cd cover anyways? whats it supposed to mean? anything? '

it's pretty deep..think long and hard about it

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 at 1:36 PM (EST)
My Score:

Your mom is pretty popular

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 at 12:14 PM (EST)
My Score:

Kut U Up can lick my ass hair.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 at 11:47 AM (EST)
My Score:

this one would be cooler if it had a Kut U Up song on it.

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 at 12:20 AM (EST)
My Score:

hell yeah someone finally killed that finch

Posted by FortyMinutesWest on 2003-03-19 00:03:07
My Score:

I just realized I put one too many "Atticus Finch"s in there.

Posted by waste_elite on 2003-03-18 23:12:36
My Score:

"Atticus=Atticus Finch=Atticus Finch=To Kill A Mockingbird reference. Atticus logo=dead mockingbird."

ladies and gentleman, sherlock holmes.

Posted by FortyMinutesWest on 2003-03-18 21:41:32
My Score:

Atticus=Atticus Finch=Atticus Finch=To Kill A Mockingbird reference. Atticus logo=dead mockingbird.

Posted by SomeoneElse on 2003-03-18 21:35:26
My Score:

whats with the cd cover anyways? whats it supposed to mean? anything?
~Zäk

Posted by theoverpass on 2003-03-18 20:44:48
My Score:

i think the cd is pretty good, especialy for $10 (canadian)

Posted by waste_elite on 2003-03-18 20:33:15
My Score:

i always thought that the atticus logo was a slug and wondered "what the hell?". upon examination, i now realize that it is actually a dead bird.

and now i laugh

Posted by fallingtopieces on 2003-03-18 19:30:25
My Score:

my score is for the cover art. seriously its stupid, i mean what will they do next year for the new one. they cant switch the colors around, maybe they'll move the copy to a different location on the cover or something. this cd, save for the alkaline trio, hot water music and rocket from the crypt songs, are just like the cover art: boring and unoriginal. the dillinger 4 song is good, but this is like the 200th comp with that song on it.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 6:02 PM (EST)
My Score:

this cd would be decent if i didnt own the albums that the already-released tracks appear on. h00ray!!!

Posted by shindo on 2003-03-18 17:40:42
My Score:

I'm a dumbass, I did forget to mention the Bane track. I used my god-like administrator powers to shove a few sentences in there... enjoy.

adam

Posted by waste_elite on 2003-03-18 17:30:49
My Score:

"rftc is the most underated band out there."

not really, they're pretty popular.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 5:02 PM (EST)
My Score:

you forgot to mention bane and over my dead body.

hands down, the two best bands on this comp

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 4:11 PM (EST)
My Score:

"I'm Not Invisible" is the greatest punk song, ever!
rftc is the most underated band out there.

Posted by degenerate on 2003-03-18 15:52:08
My Score:

The kids will love this.

Posted by TheOneTrueBill on 2003-03-18 15:22:09
My Score:

i need someone to buy this so i can hear the DKM and Down By Law songs.

Posted by shindo on 2003-03-18 14:09:35
My Score:

The press release says it was from a bonus track off a limited run of their latest album that's now no longer in print.

adam

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 2:04 PM (EST)
My Score:

Isnt "Dont Tell Me That Its OVer" an old blink song????????

Posted by evildeadalive on 2003-03-18 13:31:31
My Score:

This score is for Lagwagon.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 12:14 PM (EST)
My Score:

The Lagwagon song on the last Fat comp was awesome, not typical skate punk at all.

Posted by SomeoneElse on 2003-03-18 11:06:23
My Score:

the dropkick murphys song is badass.
~Zäk
p.s.- sometimes, insincere dave goes to far. thats not funny to joke about. buying an atticus t-shirt is not a funny thing to joke about.

Posted by insinceredave on 2003-03-18 09:33:19
My Score:

This comp makes me want to buy an Atticus T-shirt now!

insincere dave

Posted by lalombriz on 2003-03-18 09:01:56
My Score:

my score is for the live version of crawl... man... that is such a good song...

Posted by shindo on 2003-03-18 08:28:13
My Score:

Because Lagwagon has never, ever, ever struck me as anything more than a fairly typical skate punk band and the song "E. Dagger" left absolutely no impression on me whatsoever. I'm sure longtime fans are wetting their pants about it, but it really dosent seem that special to me.

adam

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 8:19 AM (EST)
My Score:

timeout, why wouldnt u at least mention the new lagwagon song and how it is?? not only that almost everyone who has heard the comp thinks its the best song on theiur and you dont even mention it?? -9

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 2:57 AM (EST)
My Score:

Matchbook Romance sucks

Posted by GregSka on 2003-03-18 02:03:03
My Score:

As much as I love the new Mighty Mighty Bosstones cd, "Jacknife to a Swan" is deffinately the worst song on there.. I have no clue as to why it appeared on this compilation

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