In the 16 months since Pennybridge Pioneers was released, Millencolin hasn't been up to much besides touring, so it's about time they came out with something to tide fans over until the next album (supposedly Feb 2001 - Actually, March 2002 - Aubin). Same goes for Midtown. I'm not sure exactly when Save the World, Lose the Girl was released, but it's been a while, especially for a young band.
Strange thing about Millencolin...they were one of the bands that first got me into punk music. However, as my musical tastes have evolved into stranger & harder directions (some of my current favourites are Raised Fist, Small Brown Bike and Boy Sets Fire), Millencolin has stuck with me, well a lot of other FAT/Epitaph bands were left at the bottom of the CD rack.
Anyway, on with the review. Millencolin contributes 3 songs. The first, "No Cigar" seems to be all over the place: comps, singles, video games etc...and frankly, I really can't see why. Never really did like that songs, one of the weakest from Pennybridge Pioneers, if you ask my opinion. Either way, if you're a fan of Millencolin, you already own this song on some other release. Next is "Blackeye", a brand new song. Decent song (par for the course), one of their more serious songs, ironically like "No Cigar". Is it just me or is Millencolin turning into Samiam? Wouldn't suprise me...Nikola sports a "Search and Destroy" on the picture inside the Fox single. Finally, the "new" extended version of "Buzzer". I use the word "new" cautiously as this version appeared in their "...and the Hi-8 Adventures" video. However, this is the first time a clean, studio version has been put to CD. "Buzzer", one of the best songs from the best album (Life on a Plate) has been lenghtened with a cool outro that does not dissapoint.
Say what you will about Midtown, they do play some good music. I do think a 6-album deal is a hell of a hole to dig youself in. And are they releasing the next one on MCA or not? Doesn't matter, they'll be there eventually... Anyway, they contribute three songs, "Let Go", "Get it Together", and "You Should Know". "Let Go" is taken from Save the World, Lose the Girl, which got great reviews (I wasn't all that impressed myself, but that's another story). "Let Go" is one of the better songs from the CD. The other 2 are brand new, and will be (supposedly) released on an upcoming album. These are typical Midtown songs, packed with vocal harmonies and guitar hooks, although they aren't the type of song that sticks in your head the whole day.
Perhaps the only thing keeping this cd from getting an average rating is the CD-ROM portion. The boys in Millencolin have generously included their two most recent videos. "Penguins & Polarbears" is strange & confusing, while "Fox" is quite funny (bet you thought that song was about a prostitute right?). Midtown shows their somewhat disturbing video for "Just Rock And Roll", an amazing song.
Where can you get this CD? It's released through Golf Records, an independant British label, but their website hasn't been updated in a while. Drive Thru is supposed to release it as well, but I don't see it anywhere on their page. I got mine through Burning Heart. I read somewhere that FAT was going to release it too, but haven't seen anything about that since.