I somehow avoided ever hearing this band until now. I don't know why. They always seemed like they would be pretty damn funny, but I never cared whether or not I heard them. Conveniently enough this discography CD is probably the best way to experience this band, because you've got all of the hardcore hilarity collected onto one CD. Included are the tracks from the "Who Shares Wins" 7", the "Straight Outta Hardcore", "On the Streets Saving the Scene From the Forces of Evil", and "Shopping for a Crew" CD's, plus a compilation track and a couple of unreleased songs. The only thing I don't like, despite the fact that everything has been remixed and remastered, is that the songs are all spread out rather than being grouped together by release or arranged in chronological order or something, but it's not that big of a deal. The style is generally somewhat heavy old school hardcore with straightforward yelling vocals, tons of gang backups, simple and short song structures, etc. Of course there are some variations here and there, especially in tracks like "In Defense of All Life" (a hilarious semi-parody of Earth Crisis' "Firestorm"), but for the most part things stick with the basic formula. Every once in awhile they throw out some melodic riffing that almost has a pop punk feel, but it works to break up the monotony. The gang vocals obviously have some girls shouting along with the guys, and I think that's an awesome touch on several levels. Some other standouts... "On the Streets Saving the Scene From the Forces of Evil" contains some nice ripoffs of Gorilla Biscuits' "Start Today" throughout, even down to the harmonica. "WWZD" has a killer dance music intro... it's pretty damn funny. And the last track is three-minute interview clip from ZTV, including a live performance of the acoustic hit "I Wanna Be Straightedge", so how can you lose there? The recordings vary, but they're surprisingly consistent, so I'd say the remixing and remastering was handled quite well. Everything sounds solid to me. I'd probably clean up a couple parts, but nothing bothers me, which is fairly rare. As one would expect the layout and the lyrics are also amusing. I think most of the pictures from the booklet are taken from their other records, because I've been told about some of this before: The photo of the guys totally looking like a nerdy emo band, the photo of the guys wearing studs and patches and mocking the crust punk image, etc. Most of the other photos are live shots with the band doing some obligatory hardcore stances and whatnot. The lyrics make fun of everything from people who talk shit on the internet to hardcore crews, big "hardcore" record labels, other bands, vegans... you name it. Hell, these guys are probably making fun of themselves on more than one occasion, and that's always a good sign. Oh, and don't overlook the fact that they use some form of the word "positive" at least 500 times, which is a joke in and of itself. In the end it's pretty clear that despite the fact that band is, well, fun... they're definitely not a total joke. Totally sarcastic? Perhaps. A good sense of humor? Absolutely. But there are some serious messages as well, and the way they handle everything definitely makes for an enjoyable listen.
[Equal Vision]
Running time - 51:12, Tracks: 30
[Notable tracks: Good Clean Fun, In Defense of All Life, Loserdotcom, Today the Scene, Tomorrow the World, V.R.S.]
Equal Vision Records - http://www.equalvision.com
