As far as EPs go, it is rare to find one that doesn't become obsolete within a year after it's released. Too many bands put out EPs only to fill their next studio album with four or five songs that have already been released via said EP. That is not the case with Fifteen's There's No Place Like Home. Three of the songs, "Ain't Life A Drag," "All The Good Times," and "Hey Joe" came from the out-of-print 7-inch Ain't Life A Drag, which makes this EP even more special since it gives the listener three songs that otherwise would have become extinct.
For only about 6 dollars, There's No Place Like Home is an epic EP by any standards. It begins with the "I don't need it" anthem, "Sun Song," about the commodification of modern life. Of the companies and corporations listed, Preparation H is the one that seems to not quite fit, as it does have a certain medical value for those suffering from red, bumpy butts. Track two is the shout-along bouncer "Land Mine," forcing the listener to realize the brutality and inhumanity of land mines and conscription.
Although this reviewer is a child of the 80's and thus prone to varying levels of ADD, tracks three and four, "924," and "Ain't Life A Drag," charting in past the five-minute mark, are hardly intolerable. The eclectic slow punk/bluesy anthem complete with harmonica, "Ain't Life A Drag," is a promising reminder that money doesn't buy happiness (which makes it a lot easier for me to live with my cheap self).
Track five, "All The Good Times," is a tribute to life itself. Without ruining it for anyone, the song can be described as "cute," "powerful," "feel-good song of the decade," or pretty much any "positive" adjectives. Judging from Jeff Ott's past, it is either so bitterly sarcastic that it becomes believable, or he was actually able to find moments of life worth capturing and immortalizing.
The only reason this album is not a 10 is for the attempt at Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe," which is just not very listenable.
Complete with a full audio zine replaying the life and death of a young girl to a heroin overdose and a secret, unlisted acoustic song at the end, there are few better buys than Fifteen's There's No Place Like Home.