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Various

Un-Scene 4: 30 Seconds to Impact (2008)
Europe

Reviewer Rating:

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

Published on July 1st 2008

Hey kids! Remember Short Music for Short People, a compilation of 30-secondish punk rock ditties? Remember how it had a ton of bands ya dug, like Dillinger Four, Black Flag, Bouncing Souls, AFI and even Blink-182 (Admit it, you liked them! Youuuuuuu…liked them!)? Well, how would you like to pick up an album with the same short song concept, but without that pesky name recognition to get in the way? No? Well, too fucking bad, laddy/lassy, cause Punktastic Recordings has a new Short Music tribute of sorts, Un-Scene 4: 30 Seconds to Impact.

As a whole, it’s hard to care about this record. Few of the bands can craft a well-rounded 30-second tune like Green Day’s “The Ballad of Wilhelm Fink” or No Use for a Name’s “Sara Fisher.” Un-Scene 4 is an indistinctly punky hodgepodge. A few ska songs stand out, though, like the Specials-aping “Macho Man Paul Savage” by Arse Full of Chips. But the tune’s appeal is in how it blatantly rips off one of the most famous ska bands of all time. The Ill Boddies’ “How Much Would You Pay to Be Bill Oddie for a Day?” stands out as well. A quick ‘n catchy reggae piece, the Ill Boddies are one of the few bands on this comp to actually craft a hook. The Cunts’ “(I’m Gonna Give You) A Shoeing” is kind of funny. It’s a 10-second song whose sole lyrics are “I’m gonna give you a shoeing.”

But as a mass introduction to underground UK punk, emo, hardcore and ska acts, Un-Scene 4 mostly just makes me feel proud to be an American. Most of these tracks either barely register or blatantly cop a feel from established acts. Worse are the songs where the acts eff around for 15 or so seconds.

On a side note, Punktastic Recordings, an offshoot of music site punktastic.com, recently closed shop, citing lack of support from a scene it was growing increasingly disinterested in. In an interview with rockmidgets.com, Punktastic founder Paul Savage namechecked the everlovin’ Org for not giving any of their bands/releases any attention. So Paul, hey. Hi. Hello. How ya doin’? Your record sucks.

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chrisafi (July 4, 2008)

1. This is terrible

2. This is a staff review bitching at punktastic however

3. This in no-way represents UK music, UK punk or the UK scene

RT (July 4, 2008)

I agree with this review but there are a few kick ass bands on this release who really aren't done justice with a 30 second track. Robolint for one are amazing live and I'd strongly recommend checking out any of their EPs.

HumanUnkind (July 2, 2008)

Yeah, I've only managed to get half way through this cd. Gonna give it a full listen at some point. The guy below is spot on for the good bands on this. Although, he missed Pendleton. Chillerton and Our Time Down Here, those bands are damn good, especially Chillerton.

Scores for Punktastic. I read the site because it's sometimes good for detailing british gigs but it also posts annoyingly unreliable rumours. I think the worst one was that MLIW were supporting Sick of it All on their most recent european tour (inc. UK). instead, they broke up.

wearestillalive (July 2, 2008)

good bands on this:

pickled dick
the don ramos players
gavin osborn
the steal

this is an awful representation of british indie music right now, mainly because tellison and the attika state aren't on it, and kill the arcade ARE. KTA are the most unoriginal band that also happens to be made up mostly of dicks that i've ever encountered

SaladFingers (July 2, 2008)

this really is scraping the barrel of UK music. its dire!!

and as for punktastic. fuck em. i once booked their band Misnomer and the label sent along nearly all their roster all thinking they were on the bill. and getting paid for it. fucking dirty tricks

they played, but they played for free

ThomPunkAheaddotcom (July 1, 2008)

haha this review made me laugh, mainly because i despise punktastic so much. they'll probably be whining about this on their forum, people commenting on this complaining. (my account was deleted on their forum for saying how they should name their site to emotastic or something a few years back i remember, ah the good old days)

either way though, overall review was a bit harsh baring in mind lots of these bands are hardly established at all so you shouldn't expect anything near the fat wreck short music for short people comp