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This comp is marketed as over 20 of the best ska-punk bands from the British Isles 2001 - and that's pretty much what you get. Dave Juste from Sucka-Punch went out and roped in bands from all sorts of labels across the UK and produced a fairly good snapshot of what was going on in UK ska-punk in 2000-2001.
Sucka-Punch stalwarts [Spunge] kick off with "Ego", from the Room For Abuse album - but don't worry if you've already got that album, there's also a live version of the 5ive cover "Keep On Moving" at the end of this comp. This is followed by King Prawn's "No Peace" and Farse's "Blueprint To A Downfall" (another Sucka-Punch stablemate but now on Moon Ska). Moon Ska artists abound in the middle of the CD, with the much under-rated Shootin' Goon, Ex Cathedra, Lubby Nugget and Whitmore. Uncle Brian appear with "Super Powered", possibly the best track from 2000's BBQ music. Whitmore, who (I think) feature one of the guys that used to be in Uncle Brian, also contribute "1000 Bongs", a song which must have been fairly new at the time coz I don't think Whitmore have been around that long.
Compunktion shows how far a lot of these bands have come - bands like 4Ft Fingers and Kenisia are there with "Brickwall" and "You and Me" respectively, from their early releases on Jamdown records and Trash Shitty records, and they are now flying high on Golf and Household Name records. No Comply, who have recently signed to Deck Cheese, have a track on this album ("Should have Guessed") which must have been one of their first recorded tracks. Identity #1's "(Sym)Pathetic" is a great track and it's a shame the band split not long after this CD came out.
Generally speaking, there's a good balance of ska and punk in this CD, you have bands that take the more traditional punk approach like 4Ft, Whitmore, Caffeine and Gash (Gash's song "Townie" is a lighthearted look at the kappa-tracksuit brigade), then there are bands which go for a more traditional ska approach like Hug Lorenzo, Uncle Brian and The Splitters. The Splitters "Wykin Airport" is one of the most catchy chilled-out ska songs I've heard in a while.
The CD finishes off with live tracks from King Prawn, [Spunge] and Capdown, which I don't think you can get anywhere else. The Capdown track is "Faith No More", recorded live at Birmingham Academy, and it just rules. All in all, a good compilation album, and 24 tracks for less than a tenner can't be bad can it?
Jamie
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