A Cross-Section Of Contemporary Punk
This compilation advertises itself as ‘featuring the top-of-the-notch of the world’s punk/hardcore bands’. It is released to accompany the ‘Breeding Disloyalty’ tour, which sees six of the bands featured on the CD tearing up the UK for thirty-eight days. Not being much of a follower of the modern punk scene, I didn’t recognise any of the bands listed on the back of the CD, but still, I dived in not quite knowing what to anticipate. What I found myself immersed in was a high-tempo shoutfest. I was trying to stay above water, miles from land, in the middle of the night, during a storm, with no idea where the next wave was coming from. Punk has come a long way since Johnny Rotten first shouted down a microphone and grimaced at journalists, so many contrasting sounds fall under the broad heading of ‘punk’. So what is this? Hardcore? Ska-punk? Pop punk? Emo? Screamo? Some other ‘genre’ invented by NME by combining two words? The answer is that it’s all of them. This compilation offers a cross-section of modern punk music, and while it is unlikely that a listener will love them all, it is also unlikely that they will hate them all. [Best. Sentence. Ever. - Ed]
One comment I have to make about modern punk/hardcore/whatever is either that I’m missing something, or that the vocalists of 90% of contemporary punk bands could be interchanged and I wouldn’t notice. The number of bands seemingly imitating the vocal style of American hardcore bands from the 90s is endless. It is refreshing when you hear a hint of a different voice singing/shouting punk.
‘Not In My Name’ by Five Knuckle opens with militant shouting punctuated with dissonant chords which slowly flow into the song. Tight and fast guitar and drum work combined with unexpected, dissonant chord sequences and the continued shouting come together to create a well thought out hardcore track.
‘Gotta Stay Focused’ by Adequate Seven is a bouncy ska tune with call-and-response shouted vocals and catchy melodies. The horns harmonise well and manage to still assert their presence in the guitar-dominated sections of the song. If the hardcore dissonance of track one wasn’t your thing, then this may keep you interested in ‘Campfire Songs..’
‘Older Thank Punk’ by The Peacocks begins in the manner of your standard pop-punk track, with the palm-muted guitar and vocals, before a galloping drum beat kicks in with the bass. The chord changes and vocal melody are nothing that isn’t expected, but then again, unexpectedness is a hallmark of pop-punk. Verse two hints at a blues influence, with the vocal melody being ornamented with guitar licks, although I don’t think the blues was ever played at 160BPM or in quite this manner.
‘Sick Joke’ by The Filaments doesn’t mess around with an introductory build up of texture, instead the song dives into a high-tempo distorted pattern which becomes the verse. This song jumped out at me on my first listen due to the sudden change in feel of the chorus, where a rock and roll style twelve bar blues pattern takes the place of the previous pattern. The vocals are refreshingly British sounding and have that ‘Oi!’ quality associated with British punk.
‘Operation M.O.V.E’ by Leftover Crack was squaring up to be my favourite song on this compilation. It opens with a plucked guitar riff that builds up with layers of strings to create a beautiful harmonic texture. Then the distortion kicks in and it all builds up, it’s going to get heavy.. The strings come back and it’s beautiful again. Unfortunately, for me this ‘song’ is ruined by the constant screaming. I don’t mind a well placed scream at the climax of a song, but when the entire vocal content of a song sounds like a violent murder, it spoils it. If you’re into screaming, then great, you’ll love this. I, however, am not. The clean guitar and the strings return to end the song on a beautiful note.
On ‘In Front Of Our Eyes’, Antimaniax make use of the wah pedal and the typical scratching backbeat guitaring to create a happy ska sounding punk song. ‘It’s Hard To Look Cool With Your Head Up Your Ass’ by Belvedere has an unfortunate name, despite this it has a catchy chorus, featuring the vocal stylings of Generic Punk Singer. The drummer and guitarist work together flawlessly to punctuate each other and make this a little more than Generic Punk Song.
‘Erase All The Mistakes You Made’ by The Foamers uses the distorted/clean dynamic and the scratching backbeat guitar technique heard earlier on the CD. Generic Punk Singer seems to be present here too.
Every punk band has to put an acoustic track towards the end of their album, it’s a rule or something, it shows they have a sensitive, reflective side. ‘Recreation Of Myths’ by G.A.S. Drummers is one of these songs, and it’s one of the better one of these songs. The two vocalists first sing to each other and then in unison to create a pretty song that will end concerts nicely. One criticism is that the male vocalist who begins the song sometimes seems unsure of exactly which note he is aiming for.
My favourite song on ‘Campfire Songs’ has to be ‘Microwave Meals And Ideals’ by Ye Wiles, simply because it seems to be the most innovative song on the compilation. It is one of those punk songs that are about nothing in particular but use clever counterpoint between the guitar melody and bass combined with the ska-like stops perfect for skanking to. The fast vocals makes this song possibly the most catchy on the CD.
Lightyear offer us ‘Life Jacket Water Wings’, which begins with a sludgy distorted chord pattern, before it all quietens down and a standard pop-punk song appears in its place. The vocal style here sounds more accustomed to selling touting tickets outside a gig than singing this melody.
‘Saving My Time’ by Redlightsflash is an urgent, melancholy hardcore offering. Generic Punk Singer gives us pleading lyrics such as ‘restless hours, a faded flower’. They don’t make a whole lot of sense, but they are right. ‘N.O.D. 60332451’ by One Fine Day is a noisy screamingfest using pick-scraping sounds and fast punk patterns underneath visceral vocals. Once again, screaming isn’t for me, but someone must like it, else it wouldn’t exist.
‘Song For A Friend’ by Howard’s Alias begins with howling, pleading, lyrics and guitar chords. It all happens with the scratching guitar and loud/quiet dynamic shift and the continuing emo vocals, wrought with angst. The happy trumpets almost sound out of place.
‘There Is No ‘I’ In Scene’ by Captain Everything! [Possibly the best name I have ever heard. - Ed] is an uptempo pop-punk song with chugging powerchords not dissimilar to a Dude Ranch era Blink 182. Da Skywalkers offer ‘Where Do We Go?’ with a simple guitar motif continuing over shouted vocals asking ‘Where do we go?’. Variety? Not here.
The compilation ends with John Holmes and ‘The Big Silence', which brings you some more dissonant hardcore. The bass slides in and some indistinct lyrics are growled and shouted underneath. It turns around with a more pop-punk riff before silence is advertised repeatedly by the vocalist. The combination of the dissonance and the infectious ‘Sileeence’ riff makes for a varied song.
So, this is a compilation designed to advertise the many faces of contemporary punk. It’s impossible to judge any of these bands based on the one song, but it’s a nice CD to let you know what’s available out there.