This is chapter four in the ongoing saga of emo, presented by who else but those passionate kids at Deep Elm. They have collected twelve bands for this one, almost all of them exhibiting a certain amount of ingenuity and artistry.
In my mind, Five Speed was a stand out, with "What's Our Dilemma," a power-pop type of song, reminiscent of Brandtson's "Letterbox" work. The intro is great, with a slow build up of distortion and feedback that explodes into a wall of cymbals and driving guitars. The John Doe Band also stood out with "Supergirl," a song that utilizes rock n roll hooks and sensibilities, and Weezer like choruses. I am sure many of you have heard of Further Seems Forever by now, and there is a reason for that, they rock! Keystone Sinatra comes off a bit cliche, but manages to redeem themselves with a very cool rock-ballad type chorus (ie, see 80s ballad bands like Journey or Foreigner). Thoroughly enjoyed Spy vs Spy, but mainly because they remind me of the Grey AM and Mid Carson July, with a little Hot Water Music action thrown in for spice (and don't even get me started on how much I love Hot Water Music!). ODG was interesting, at points pretty original, at others embarrassingly cliche. My personal favorite is Merrick. These guys got the stuff! Originality, passion, catchy hooks, chord diversity, and just that undefinable quality that separates the great from the good. The last selection, an instrumental, from Flux Capacitor, was the only track that did not impress me in some way. I love instrumentals when they are done right, like in the case of Stradhoughton Echo and Nobstreater, but this one was annoying. Too forced, too redundant and drawn out, etc...
But all in all, a very impressive compilation. Definitely worth finding.
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis 1999Reviewed by ConradThis emo compilation has a lot of more rock than emo. This album is not that great but has its bright spots. First off the best song by far is Further Seems Forever: A+ for their incredible rock/pop effort, flat out incredible song. Tied for second is Five Speed (Rock) and Merrick (Rock/Punk) both A's, great rock songs. A 'B' goes to John Doe with a really good radio rock song. The rest of the…Decapolis 1999Reviewed by Tom BastianDeep Elm Records has done it again. They have managed to put out yet another great compilation, a real compilation, not a CD made up of songs that the label has already released on other full lengths. Actually, I believe none of these bands are signed to Deep Elm, at least not yet. Five Speed, from Tempe, AZ, start out the CD with their aggressive post-punk sound, cool tune. Next up is Red Animal…Decapolis 1999Reviewed by TimFurther Seems Forever and Merrick have good songs. The rest are the same old same old. I'm not going to bother talking about this because by now everyone should know my bias against Emo. Further Seems Forever and Merrick are the exceptions to this. They get B+'s and the rest get D's. D+
