Considering Takeover Records is Yellowcard's label, it's not surprising all of Takeover Records 3-Way Issue #2 is punk inspired music. What is surprising is that it has Nearmiss, a more old school styled punk band with their less than two minute odes, although with plenty of pop/punk vocals thrown in amongst the screams. Reeve Oliver is sticks out a bit seeing as they're more of a pop/rock band than punk. The Matches fits the typical bill of a pop/punk band along the same lines as Yellowcard. Each of these bands contributed three songs to this compilation.
Nearmiss mixes their more old-school style of punk with old school punk. In reality, they really are a pop/punk band, but instead of relying on the typical pop/punk cliches they add semblances of older style punk to set themselves apart.
Reeve Oliver has a style of pop/rock with some punk elements, but for the most part their focus is on melody and hooks. Reeve is easily the best band on this compilation, with vocals similar to Seth Roberts (Watashi Wa, Eager Seas) and fun and catchy songs that rock.
The Matches has one electric song and two acoustic tracks on this compilation. The electric song has a great bass line, and is incredibly catchy.. The acoustic version of "Sick Little Suicide" is done quite well, utilizing vocals that are an octave lower instead of insisting on a perpetual whine that many pop/punk/emo bands do on their acoustic tracks. It even sounds like it was written as an acoustic ballad. On the other hand, "Shoot Me with the Smile" falls into the category of novelty art, as it's obvious the band really isn't trying, using pseudo rock screams and using falsetto for the rock solo that is obviously in the electric version of the song. In fact the vocals are done rather badly, but because of the campy performance, "Shoot Me with the Smile" is quite enjoyable, even with the annoying sound of glass breaking that's thrown in for some weird reason.
Grading compilations is always hard, seeing as one is grading several artists and often a high rating seems unfair considering it is not a complete work of art, being a splicing of the better songs to promote the band. Takeover Records 3-Way Issue #2 is better than your average compilation and is a great pick up for anyone who is not afraid to admit their great love for pop/punk.
2.5/4
