Punknews.org LogoPunknews.org

Sign In | create an account

 
Staff IconVarious - Playing 4 Square (Cover Artwork)

Various

Playing 4 Square (2000)
Fat Wreck Chords

Reviewer Rating:
User Rating:


Contributed by: Scott
(
others by this writer | submit your own
)


Published on May 4th 2001


Kudos to Suburban Home, Negative Progression, My, and Drive Thru Records for realizing that a 4-label comp is almost assuredly better than 1. Now, onto the bands:

Gamits - Good, good poppy punk. Reminds me of Green Day mixed with a little more emotion in the vocals. They get a thumbs up.

Nobodys - Why do people like this band? The vocals are nauseating. It's like he's trying to sing as off-key and nasally as possible. Pass.

Fairlanes - I dunno. It's not bad pop-punk, but this song doesn't make me want to get their album.

Oblivion - The late great Oblivion. This is a track off their last CD and is a catchy sing-along number. If you never got to see them live, you missed out.

F.Y.P. - Snotty, indeed. Only 47 seconds long, too, so it's over before you realize how shitty it sounds.

Homeless Wonders - I dig this, it reminds me for some reason of the punkier Suicide Machines stuff. It's abrasive but not too much, I like it.

Spread - I know this band is from Japan and this is from their split CD with the Teen Idols [who rule]. I have absolutely NO idea if they're singing in English or Japanese, but it's catchy irregardless.

Apocalypse Hoboken - Blech.

Decay - Your typical angry punk rock with screamy vocals. Not bad, not great either.

Bounder - I reviewed this CD a while ago, and I stick by my original assessment - boring.

Gob - A nice cover of Mr. Sandman, with a little Metallica thrown in for good measure. Daddy like.

Over It - They get 2 songs on here and with good reason - it's good shit. Very similar to Saves the Day but a little more punky. Check them out before they're huge.

Bracket - I hate Bracket.

Adventures of Jet - Nice and poppy, kind of a wacky keyboard part going on. Why have I not heard of these guys before?

Lagwagon - It's Lagwagon. We all should know what this sounds like.

Nerf Herder - This band used to be a lot slower than this, I thought. It's still unmemorable at best. Stick to your 30-second song, that's hilarious.

Popsicko - For me, this song reminds me a bit of The Stereo -- it's got that crunchy guitar attack and really nice vocal harmonies. It's a bit heavier than most of The Stereo's repertoire, though.

The Ataris - It seems like everyone and their mothers love this band. I can see why, it's catchy, emotional punk, but it's not *too* overdone.

Armchair Martian - This just ended and I can't even remember it.

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - Another cover, this time of "Rich Girl." I cannot remember for the life of me who originally sings it, but Spike and Co. do a fine job.

A New Found Glory - A New Found Suckage is more like it.

Midtown - These guys are a huge guilty pleasure of mine. Honest and sincere "emo" rock.

Rx Bandits - It's amazing that this is the first ska band on the CD. It took 25 tracks to get one! Wacky. Anyways, I think that the old Rx Bandits stuff [while they were under the name The Pharmaceutical Bandits] was better, their new stuff seems like theirs horns are a burden. I dunno.

Allister - Very good pop-punk, I've always had a soft-spot for these guys. Two great songs off their debut CD, check them out if you need a dose of pop-punk injected back into your life.

Caught Inside - Cock rock meets punk rock, with not-so-good results.

Well, no label really came out shining in this effort, but that might be because I seem to be a little too old for this stuff nowadays. If you were trying to get your little brother or an uninitiated friend into punk, this comp would suffice -- it covers most of the bases, from Drive Thru's sugary-sweet rock to Suburban Home's gritty punk. Plus, it's a cheapo comp, and even though there are no unreleased tracks, it's hard to go wrong with 28 songs for under 5 dollars.

[taken from A different kind of greatness webzine]null




Please login or register to post comments.
What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
  • Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
  • Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
  • Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
  • Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

    Features

    Exclusive Streams

    Newest Reviews

    Punknews.org Team

    Managing Editor

    Adam White

    News Editors

    Kira Wisniewski
    Brittany Strummer
    Andrew Waterfield
    Katy Hardy
    Matthew Baldwin
    Armando Olivas
    John Flynn

    Video Editor

    Chris Moran

    Social Media Editor

    Justin August

    Copy Editor

    Amelia Cline

    Reviews Editor

    Joe Pelone

    Interviews Editor

    Richard Verducci

    Publisher

    Aubin Paul

    ISSN 1710-5366



    © Copyright 1999-2012 Punknews.org



    Other Places to Go

    Punknews.org Flickr Pool