Pressure Set Reveal Debut Single & Video “Blood Gimmick”
Pressure Set have unveiled their debut single, Blood Gimmick, that is the first taste of their forthcoming self-titled album that will…
Various Artists – ROTECT: A Benefit For The National Association To Protect Children
Various Artists
ROTECT: A Benefit For The National Association To Protect Children - Fat Wreck Chords
Oh Fat Wreck, how I love you. Every time I look, you guys are releasing another great punk rock album featuring the classic “Fat Wreck Sound.” But now you’ve gone one step further, and put together a compilation that will make everyone happy. Not only is it a benefit compilation, it is a good compilation – which is rare when its a benefit compilation. So really, this has just strengthen my unwavering love of the southern California label.
Like all compilations, PROTECT uses some bigger names to really sell the project. I mean, when you see names like Matt Skiba (of Alkaline Trio), MXPX, NOFX, Joey Cape (Lagwagon and Bad Astronaut), Anti-Flag, The Serviettes, Jawbreaker and Against Me! you become immediately intrigued. And while those aforementioned bands supply some great songs (particularlyAgainst Me!‘s cover of Bob Dylan‘s Wagon Wheel and Skiba‘s acoustic track), the smaller named bands actually provide a lot of the meat and bones of the album. The Falcon adds a great song from their debut EP, The Tim Version‘s quick March 22nd Is National Quit Your Job Day forces you to press repeat, while Communiqué is able to make your mind soar with Carrie Anne. Avail‘s Tim Barry gives a great sing-along acoustic track too. And those are only some of the standout tracks (others come from the likes of Dead To Me and The Arrivals too!)
Not only does Fat Wreck give us a great selection of songs, it seems to all flow nicely too. There’s only really three hiccups in the entire album, and those come from the harder bands of Coalesce, Darkest Hour and Bars. And they only stand out because they are so much harder than the other tracks on the album.
The final selling point of this compilation though is the fact that 15 out of the 26 tracks are unreleased! How many times do you pick up an album only to have already heard 90% of the songs on it? This doesn’t happen here.
So let’s look at it mathematically:
(A great cause) + (great bands) + (nice flow) + (tons of unreleased stuff) = A must have album (and a bigger crush on the label).
