Various Artists

Item: Screaming Giant Pizza Comp
Author: Kindred Winecoff

Screaming Giant Pizza Comp

(1999)

Reviewed by Kindred Winecoff

Discogs Bandcamp

Label Screaming Giant RecordsBandoppler1999

hardcore punk rapcore ska

Okay, first off, I must make it clear that usually I either love or hate compilations. Going into Screaming Giant's comp, I felt that I would love this one, as it had several bands that I knew or recognized, plus had two songs by every band on the compilation, which I think is a good idea. It's hard to tell whether or not you like a band and want to drop 15 bucks on their record based on one song. Now, to the songs...

First off is Lugnut. A lot of people give Lugnut trash, and I'm not sure why. They play loud, fast, snotty punk rock. It's over before you've really had a chance to get into it; both songs together take up less than two and a half minutes. But it's punk rock in all its simple, minimalistic glory, so take it or leave it.

Next up is Officer Negative. They get great reviews, and everyone loves them. I'm not a big fan, but I can understand why they are so popular. They are firm about their beliefs, play with passion and conviction, and are rough and heavy as a slab of rock. They play their own style of old school gutter punk and hardcore that, for some reason, kind of reminds me of Minor Threat. All around a really good band.

Ah, Jesse and the Rockers. These guys mean well, but their music is cliché, and they don't even pull it off any better than any other bands. Their lyrics are…fluffy: "It's great, it's great, I think I'll have a V-8. It's great, it's great, I gave my life away to Jesus Christ and now I'm saved." That kind of overly simplistic stuff really gets under my skin, and the music is nowhere near good enough to save it.

The next band is Honeylocust, essentially a ska-core band. They were pretty good, especially their second song "Sometimes." They are nothing new, but not bad at what they do.

I was pleasantly surprised by Zippy Josh. I'd never heard of him until these songs. He plays a good mix of acoustic-based music, with "Bad End of the Bottle" - fairly poppy - and "Soup of the Day" - a more rootsy, country (in the sense that Havalina Rail Co. is country) feeling song. Josh's lyrics are well written and well delivered. His voice is pretty young and immature, which lends a whiny quality to his songs. Nice stuff.

Devoted Molded sounds like an old-school punk band, sort of like a mix between the Vaselines and Suicidal Tendencies. The lyrics, again, are what brings this band down: "Jesus died to save my soul, 'cause my mommy told me so. Oh, oh me." And it gets worse from there. If it weren't for the contrived lyrics, I'd really dig this band.

.rod laver. gets my vote for most annoying band name to come out since The Artist Formerly Known as Prince changed his name to a symbol. (Is it "dot rod laver dot" or "period rod laver period" or just "rod laver" and ignore the punctuation?) In any case, the band has certainly benefited from the recent rise of rapcore. In all fairness, .rod laver. is a pretty cool band. They have some pretty good songs on this compilation, and the singer's voice is great - nice guitarwork as well. "Franconia Rd." sounds like a mix between 311 and System of a Down, or any other rapcore band, but it's a good song that could be played on the radio right alongside Limp Bizkit, Korn, and the rest of them.

7-10 Split is awesome. No question. They are my favorite band on this compilation, and one of the songs on it, "My Last Breath," is not on their Screaming Giant release. It makes dropping the $6.95 to get this compilation worth it in itself. Fans of fast, heavy, melodic punk rock - a la Craig's Brother and Slick Shoes - will totally dig 7-10 Split. The two songs on this compilation are a good introduction to the band.

Godrocket is a ska-core band. Their first song attempts to fit the story of David and Goliath in a two and half minute song, and it falls pretty flat. Not only the lyrics, but also the music and the vocals as well. Cliched chord progressions and predictable changes are hard to over-look. "Shoe Fetish" is a much better song about a crazy chica with a shoe-shopping obsession. It features pretty cool female vocals that fits in with the music really well.

I'd never heard of Tasty Snax before this compilation. They are a pop/punk/ska band that offers no new or particularly special sound. The lyrics aren't terrible, but not great, and that is basically the way both of these songs are as a whole. It isn't bad, but it's been done. Many times, and much better.

The next two songs are from Officer Negative live in concert. Basically the same as before, except add the intensity and speed of a live show and you've pretty much got it. Neither of the live songs are the songs that appear earlier on the comp, so don't worry about getting ripped off that way. Good stuff.

The last band, Seventh Vision, is another rapcore band. This time the lead singer sounds like he's trying to sound like Zack de la Rocha, but can't really pull it off. The guitarist is pretty good though, and the music is fairly original, while still fitting comfortably in the genre.

Alright, so I lied. I don't love or hate this compilation. There are some good bands on it, and some pretty bad bands. One thing that I do very much appreciate is the fact that Screaming Giant allows us a larger exposure to each band by including two songs from each band, rather than one, like most comps. And, considering that Screaming Giant is a pretty young and intentionally diverse label, this compilation is not bad at all. And it's only like 6 bucks.