Various Artists – Punk Rock Is Your Friend #5

Kung Fu Records is packed wit their fifth low priced CD sampler, Punk Rock Is Your Friend #5, and just like they did with their Secret Weapons Of Kung Fu 2 DVD sampler a while back, they are experimenting a bit with this sampler. The twenty-nine track album features a variety of songs. They have some rare and unreleased songs, a couple demos by their newest band Undermined, some live recordings from their The Show Must Go Off!! series, two dance remixes, and then some short sound bites from the Kung Fu feature film Cake Boy. All of this makes for a interesting album.

The first thing that needs to be talked about is the nine sound blurbs from Cake Boy. Although they are somewhat funny, there is no need for them, they are basically just fillers. Next let’s talk about Undermined,Kung Fu‘s newest band. They are a hard-core/screamo band, which really doesn’t fit into their normal roster, so its more then surprising to hear their two demos on this compilation. But don’t worry you soon get past that surprise as they move onto The God Awfuls and Audio Karate, both of which are bands that I enjoy. Punk Rock Is Your Friend #5 gives you a preview to two upcoming releases too, Tsunami Bomb and Useless I.D.; and if theses tracks are any indication, those two albums will be good ones. The live songs don’t really stand out as live songs, they blend into the album seamlessly which makes it so that the album flows easily. Unfortunately, there are two songs which really stick out on the compilation. They are dance remixes of Tsunami Bomb‘s Roundabout and The Vandals‘ Lord Of The Dance byShingo. These ruin the songs and don’t really belong on the compilation.

Punk Rock Is Your Friend #5 isn’t an amazing compilation. There are tons out there which are a lot better. But since it is for less then 4 bucks, you can’t expect to find a classic. If you like Kung Fu Recordsand their bands, then I suggest picking it up if you have two toonies laying around somewhere.