When it comes to tribute albums, I think the most
important question is, "What's the purpose?".
Way too many tribute albums have hit the market without taste or any sensible
reason at all.
The case for this cd is nothing like that. It's obvious that most of the bands
featured on this cd,
is influenced by the music and attitude of Bloody Mess. I was really surprised
when i heard the
fact that all these bands, with only 2 exceptions, is from Illinois. But
then... so is Bloody Mess!.
The cd got 25 songs in 1 hour. The
covered songs contains a tasty mix from Bloody's
entire
career. The majority of the tracks are offcourse from Bloody's two full
lengths
with the Skabs
and the 1999 cd with the Vaynes. There's also tunes from most of the singles. The only thing
I might miss here is something from the Hate era, but then... only a few of those songs
has even
been released in it's original versions, so what do I ask for?
ARSONIC SCUM is opening the CD with a great version
of "Think of punkrock when you shit".
More pop than the original version, but still awesome. Next up is
MAXLIDER with a well arranged
"This same old town". This almost makes the original sound like
a demo. Following this is all-female
band CEDAR
STREET SLUTS who replaces the word "clit" with
"dick" in "Cigarette on the dick".
Very primitive but still good version here. The singer in the next band STAR TURTLE
got a very
similar voice to Bloody in "Mammogram days" which is very well performed.
Then CHICKEN LAB
manage to mix hardcore with rastafari rhythms in "I like sin". This sounds even better after a second
listening. Not only does the singer of THE MEGASONICS got a "Bloodyish" voice,
the band also
do a kickass version of "6th grade field trip". The next two
songs on the cd doesn't impress me at all,
REBEKAH'S TAPE is way too chaotic in "Stuck in Minonk" and NONAMOUS is
anonymous in
"Lawless" which indeed is fair grunge but still lacks the punch. "Not
very pretty" is the second song
with female vocals, performed by LISA & THE
LUNATICS. Besides Lisa's great voice, the chorus
is backed up by a guy who could be Lemmy of the Motörhead. More likely it is
Kevin Beverage,
who used to play bass in the Skabs, or just some of the other Lunatics.
THE SURFRITOS delivers a fast and snotty "Everybody lies", Great solo
and cool vocals
which
reminds of '77 stuff like the Spent Idols. The band PICKED features original Skabs member Fish.
They do a awesome "Look it or live it". THE RESINATORS turns "I ain't got no friends" into
their
own wild psychedelic trip. Not bad at all. "My black little heart"
by THE PROJECTS are mean and
untamed. A
very good re-make of this classic Vaynes song. GRAVEL BATH got the coolest
and
weirdest guitars in a great
"Living in Peoria" (the only song on the cd not written by Bloody Mess).
THE LAST
VEGAS turns "Cheerleaders for death" into a party before ANALOG SAVES
THE
PLANET almost makes me puke! To hear "Hungover & stoned" with synthesizers is like
safe sex,
fucking boring!!.
I'm back in the groove when MELTING FLESH delivers a mean version of
"Detroit, i'm in town".
Next is BEAUTIFUL BERT & THE SLAGS who totally tears "Ugly
friends"
into pieces. RAW!!
Bert is punk as fuck, Great 'n' scummy!
SLAVE starts easy in "Empty"
but when the chorus comes
it hits me like a punch in the face. This
is mean, great stuff! "If
you're gonna leave me" is fast, short and well performed by SPITSHINE69.
When DRAYTON SAWYER plays "Tragedy"
there's almost
too many references coming up in my
head. Killer vocals, El Duce bashing
drums and a generally groovy party atmosphere. The last band
to pay tribute to Bloody is SYNTAX ERROR, they do it
with a fully acceptable "Punk rock pulpit".
But the cd ain't finished yet, here's also 2 brand new
tracks with Bloody Mess. Both are killers!.
The first one is entitled "Rock'N' Roll Scallywag", a
great song with a very professional sound and a
catchy melody. This song is co-written and performed together with Plasmatics axe hero Wes Beech.
"Caged Animal" is the next track and it gives a perfect contrast to
the previous one.
This sounds very
much like the classic stuff Bloody did with the Skabs and it
fits like a glove to close this cd.
The booklet contains a quite interesting written piece by Black'N'Blue president
Peter Yarmouth.
There's a lot of good stuff on this disc and it also gives a great opportunity
to discover new good bands.
To me that's half the pleasure with a tribute cd. Besides that i also like the
idea to pay tribute to artists
while they still are alive.
Jimmie Swedish Scum*
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