Various - Epitaph Fall Sampler 2014 (Cover Artwork)
Staff Review

Various

Epitaph Fall Sampler 2014 (2014)

Epitaph Records


Epitaph has released a compilation of songs from artists who have put out new material this year so far. And no, don't worry Falling In Reverse is not on it. Instead, this comp features one track from Pianos Become The Teeth, Joyce Manor, The Sidekicks, The Menzingers, Plague Vendor, and Desaparecidos.

Overall, this comp isn't a hard—rocking punk collection that one might have hoped that Epitaph would release. Of the six songs, four of them are pretty and melancholy, especially for an Epitaph release. The track "Falling In Love Again" from Joyce Manor's Never Hungover Again is definitely one of those four tracks. Things pick up only slightly after "Falling In Love Again" with The Sidekick's song "Jesus Christ Supermalls." Even though this song is the half way point of the comp, you can already feel it starting to drag. And of all the tracks on Rented World, choosing the song "Where Your Heartache Exists" by The Menzingers doesn't help this already tedious sounding release. It seems to me that the song "The Talk" is underrated and this would have been a perfect opportunity to hype it up a bit.

The comp does end on a high note though, with Desaparecidos's song "Anonymous." This is really the only truly hard—rocking, political punk song. It's a salute to Anonymous, the cyber—vigilante/anarcho organization. The verse take on issues like corporatism and the police state, while the chorus consists of shouts of "You can't stop us! We're Anonymous!"

If you are a fan of any of these bands or even Epitaph in general, you can probably take or leave this release, but if you are just getting to know any of the bands' material its not recommended that you listen to this comp. There's just not a lot of energy, which is too bad because these bands have a lot to offer.