Details:
Back in the day when I ran a small record label I chatted with others in a similar struggling position and if I had any sage advice, or words of caution I tended to chat at length to them about it to help them avoid the pitfalls I myself seemed to bound in to. Andrew Catlin a fine young gentleman of No Order Records was one of these fellows, but we are talking years ago now. I’ve slept a lot since then. “Friendly Fire” a compilation split by half and half American and English bands is the first release, and part of the problem with this disk is that its seeds were sown many moons ago and left to fester when it really needed regeneration.
First and foremost the majority of songs on this CD, in fact 13 of the 18 on offer here have at one point or another been in my possession on their own accompanying release, so there is very little new for me to get my teeth into. This however has the flipside that I know I like most of this CD already!! In a nutshell the issues with this compilation are that one the music is too old to be of really vital to anyone who has been into this type of music for even a short time and that the age old problem of the digital age and the inevitable decline of the standard compilation. You could probably track all of these songs down from the net, be it MySpace, PureVolume or whatnot and so why fork out money for something you could get for free? It’s a sound argument, but one that somewhat misses the point. No Order Records is doing you a service, compiling these artists they hope you will love and check out further due to their hard work.
Musically this is solidly in the poppy rock, emo, pop-punk vein of things and varies a lot in terms of the size of the bands and of course their quality. Panic! At The Disco you will of course know, as well as Over It, but will you know The Attika State or Chaser? Quite possibly not.
To give you a perspective of time from these songs, Halifax’s “Ten Figures Isn’t Enough” comes from their debut album on ECA Records “Start Back At Start” which was released four years ago in the summer of 2003! Sherwood’s “The Town That You Live In” back in May of 2005 and Bottom Line of a similar time period. But, and this is a rather important but, some of the songs on this CD are outstanding.
Park for instance (Now sadly no longer functioning) never put a foot wrong and “Your Latest Victim” is a perfect example of this, the deep dark alt-emo-rock they produce is hardly ever bettered. Fast Reaction is our UK Fall Out Boy, and have the summery sheen pop-punk down to a tee. They are on the rise, and deservedly so. The Attika State’s “The Downside Of Perfect” is one of my favourite songs of all time, mixing crisp clean vocals with rip-roaring guitars and so many rock-a-long moments it’s crazy. Surprising me was The Prize Fight, who I’d written off after the loss of their horn section, but this track is very promising indeed.
Poor moments are Fleeing From Finales’ “An Emotional Summer Of Cricket” for the simple reason I just reviewed their new CD (Which is great) and they re-recorded this and blew the old version out of the water, The Riverclub who I just think aren’t very good at what they do, Loveburger were new to me, and they shall stay an unknown quantity to me as they are bad with a capital bad.
So a mixed bag on offer here as per usual with compilations. The DIY aspect of No Order Records is brilliant, and I truly respect what they are trying to do here. It’s all a learning curve, and there are certainly a few mistakes made with this CD, but if you are totally uninitiated with this type of music this could give you a hint at some great bands.
Listen: www.myspace.com/noorderrecords
Tracklist:
1. Fastlane - Virus
2. Halifax - Ten Figures Isn’t Enough
3. Fleeing From Finales - An Emotional Summer Of Cricket
4. Park - Your Latest Victim
5. Chaser - I’ll Be On The Other Side (Riot)
6. Sherwood - The Town That You Live In
7. Kill The Arcade - This Is What We Call A Conflict
8. Panic! At The Disco - The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage
9. The Riverclub - Call If You Want To
10. The Prize Fight - This Apartment
11. Failsafe - Unity In Progress
12. Over It - Waiting
13. Fast Reaction - Out Of The Race
14. Promise Of Redemption - Carly
15. Loveburger - Before Today
16. Bottom Line - Nothing Is Real
17. The Attika State - The Downside Of Perfect
18. Denver Harbor - All I Want (Acoustic)
