Punknews.org | Various - Carry the Torch: A Tribute to Kid Dynamite

Review Navigator

Features

Reviews

Various

Carry the Torch: A Tribute to Kid Dynamite
2009
Get Outta Town

Various - Carry the Torch: A Tribute to Kid Dynamite (Cover Artwork)

Review by: Brian
See others by this writer

Get Outta Town Records (link)

Only registered users
can post comments

Published on July 31st 2009

As if the countless clones that followed in their wake weren't enough proof, Kid Dynamite's legacy is further cemented by Carry the Torch, a massive, 39-song tribute that covers every track (double-edged) the band laid to tape. Just like none of those clones can or could quite match the brilliance and sincerity of Kid Dynamite's rapid-fire, gritty melodic hardcore, none of the bands here quite stack up to the originals -- but it's not to say they didn't make a solid effort.

While Smartbomb's take on "Heart a Tact" is refreshingly raw and scrappy, the urgency is brought to a screeching halt by Ernie Parada's half-acoustic take on "Bench Warmer" -- though it picks up the full-band, full-speed ahead approach halfway through, this probably should have been sequenced much further into the disc than 3rd. First to Leave, placed at track 14, sound more natural with their vacation island take on "S.O.S."

Broadway Calls add a wonderfully snotty and bass-heavy character to "Bookworm," making for one of the album's best moments. But then, one of the burliest bands, oddly enough, takes on one of KD's poppiest numbers when All Teeth tackle "Never Met the Gooch." It's an awkward juxtaposition, but it kinda works. Where a happy medium is reached between traits like this is Make Do and Mend's gruff and fast application to "Ronald Miller Story."

No Secrets Between Sailors is credited as the band doing "Living Daylights," but it's clearly Sakes Alive!!, who also do "News at 11" later on. Chris Vandeviver's vocals are harsh and scratchy like rusted nails and they totally nail the former. Their latter, though, oddly enough, has a pretty rough recording that muffles the intensity a bit.

Comadre have one of the most experimental covers in "Death and Taxes," with a bumbling bassy intro and hip-hop vinyl scratch, and later on adding European screamo elements; it's pretty refreshing. Representative of their pretty goofy nature, 12 Cent throw some xylophone plinks and such into "Pacifier," without making things too ridiculous (and is that an homage to None More Black's "Oh, There's Legwork" I hear at the end?). Curiously, No Harm Done's "Three's a Party" features "guest vocals" from Dan Yemin; it's definitely got a weird 'alternate universe' vibe, like if Biff still had the almanac...with less disastrous results. Yeems, along with Dave Wagenschutz, provide some nice retrospective tidbits in the liner notes too.

Bands that miss the mark a bit include Endgame, with their posthumous "Copout"; them not doing so well is a little weird since that band basically mastered the melodic Turning Point / Lifetime thing on their last EP. Static Radio NJ actually sound less like KD on "Give 'em the Ripped One" than they do their early stuff. To the Lions transform "Rid of the Losers, Bring on the Cruisers" into a beastly, metallic hardcore gallop; eh. And Stay Warm seem a little sluggish with their rendition of "Showoff."

Towards the end, No Trigger's "K05-0564" is solid and though their transition to the breakdown is a little sloppy, Latin for Truth otherwise do "Table 19" well. The highly anticipated "Fuckuturn" from the Ergs! delivers and Soldiers is one of the few bands to actually match KD's speed on "Introduction to the Opposites." Kill Conrad mess around with an "El Scorcho" drumbeat opening before launching into an okay "Rufus Wants a Hug." The keyboard intro to the Wonder Years' "Cheap Shot, Youth Anthem" is a little cheesy but the song is otherwise pretty straightforward. The production tricks on This Time Next Year's nasally vocals for "3 O'clock" might cause a few listeners to end the album one song early.

Overall, Carry the Torch just manages to do so, though maybe at a lagging pace. At an hour long it's a bit exhausting of a listen and not every band hits the mark, but it's a thorough and direct love letter all the same.

STREAM
Smartbomb - Heart a Tact
All Teeth - Never Met the Gooch
Comadres - Death and Taxes
No Trigger - K05-0564
Sakes Alive!! - News at 11
This Time Next Year - 3 O'clock

Black Numbers is handling the vinyl release for this album.

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

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.

Posted by splitter on 2009-11-10 15:31:34
My Score:

These songs just sound like really garbage versions of the original. I think Ernie Parada was the only person that actually tried to put an interesting spin on the song. Aside from that, this sounds just like a bad, bad cover record. I'll stick to the real deal, thanks.

Posted by icapped2pac on 2009-08-02 21:37:19

"it's definitely got a weird 'alternate universe' vibe, like if Biff still had the almanac"

Well done, sir.

Posted by dlangl4 on 2009-08-02 19:37:29
My Score:

This cd/ep is some of the best tribute material out there. The last three songs are my favorites from this"I used to think" "Faster than Disaster" and "Not Enough" are ecential material. Over It also contains the best version of "Reconected", in my opinion anyway. All in all, the best ep I own. I don't know hard this is to find nowdays, but I'm sure you can get it through the band's website, and you most certainly should.

Posted by Blackjaw_ on 2009-08-02 19:29:05
My Score:

lol this hasnt been commented 4 over an hour and all u fucking idiots need 2 calm down its just a cd and ya various artists doesnt suck theyre just different and u dumasses need 2 realize that instead of hate on theyre cds..

Posted by 14theroad on 2009-08-02 17:22:56

I was stoked for this because I love Kid Dynamite and a couple of my friends are on it. But then I heard it and I wasn't. This is no "We'll Inherit The Earth".

Posted by onegirlarmy on 2009-08-02 14:59:16

So No Secrets Between Sailors really didn't do any songs and Sakes Alive!! really did two? Weird.

It was most likely a pressing error when they were putting the tracks together and didn't realize it when it went off to press.

Posted by mattramone on 2009-08-01 21:28:12

Must like Jason Shevchuk, I committed to listen to this, then quit halfway through to mope.

Posted by dougkatz on 2009-08-01 15:19:57

and where you said "el scorcho" you meant undone, right?

Posted by Blackjaw_ on 2009-08-01 15:14:11

So No Secrets Between Sailors really didn't do any songs and Sakes Alive!! really did two? Weird.

Posted by inagreendase on 2009-08-01 10:05:49

I do give a lot of 7s. Roughly 35% of what I review. Doesn't mean I don't utilize the other scores.

Posted by MN_punkmaster-skaman on 2009-08-01 05:21:01

Bryne, you should be glad some people actually take time to read reviews and look at the rating.

Posted by telegraphrocks on 2009-08-01 03:05:32

I'm a dickhead... disregard what I said.

Posted by mikexdude on 2009-08-01 01:24:05

I found the Ergs cover pretty unbearable during the intro. The best is Broadway Call's Bookworm cover.

Posted by damo on 2009-07-31 21:18:05

same as blackjaw for me

i actually only like about 6 KD songs, never got the love

Posted by Blackjaw_ on 2009-07-31 18:59:55
My Score:

It must help that I was never a Kid Dynamite fan, because I actually found this compilation less 'skip prone' than most. Even the bands I don't normally like put forward some alright-sounding songs. I actually go all the way and delete a lot of songs off compilations, but I kept 20 of these 39 which is pretty good, I think.

Posted by telegraphrocks on 2009-07-31 16:51:28
My Score:

This is terrible. Out of the 39 tracks, I think I was able to finish 2... and regretted those extra seconds I used to do so.

It's amazing that any of these bands thought they could do any of those brilliant songs justice at all. It's an insult that they even tried. I'm not ragging on these bands particularly (as there are some stellar ones on here), just their ability to play these iconic songs.

Fuck this, just go listen to Kid Dynamite.

Posted by SloaneDaley on 2009-07-31 16:38:48

I just want the Ergs! cover really...

Posted by shark-e on 2009-07-31 13:56:26
My Score:

I want to say that because none of these covers or as good or better than the original, it's really not worth anyone's time. Of course, that's not completely true, but I found this to be pretty unpleasant. Even the better covers sounded mostly de-clawed, and there wasn't enough creative liberties taken to make the reduction in quality worthwhile.

Posted by R3vengeTherapy on 2009-07-31 10:45:40

Is it just me or do far too many people pay far too close attention to scores?

According to his username, he likes ska, so give him a break. He must get cranky wearing that helmet all day in the summer.

Kinda pisses me off that two of my favorite songs from SFL are butchered on this. This was kind of a let down, because there were some better bands that were going to do tracks originally that never did (Crime In Stereo, for one).

Posted by Bryne on 2009-07-31 10:30:48

Is is me or all the reviews you do just 3 1/2?

Is it just me or do far too many people pay far too close attention to scores?

Posted by overdefined on 2009-07-31 09:50:10

Pretty sure if you click "see other reviews" you can see that in the over 500 reviews Brian has written, there are a wide variety of scores.

Posted by timorous_me on 2009-07-31 01:46:33

The BTTF reference made me lol.

Posted by MN_punkmaster-skaman on 2009-07-31 01:15:42

Is is me or all the reviews you do just 3 1/2?

Features

Contests

Reviews

Various