This compilation is a collaboration between internet radio station www.fightforrock.com and the very interesting Boston-based label Traktor7.

If I'm to judge from the weird title track by STU WALKER which opens this, it's going to be a far from ordinary collection. It sounds like TOM WAITS meets THE ANDREWS SISTERS. No really. Next up is "Recession Blues 2001", an excellent piece of punk blues by a threesome that goes by the name of GRUBSTAKE. BLACK HELICOPTER's contribution is called "Mousemeat" and it's from their almost unbearably bleak but brilliant album "That Specific Function". Gives me a lump in my throat every time I hear it.

"I Love Trouble" by THE INFORMATION is a solid piece of melancholy punk pop. The ever-brilliant REBREATHER give us the instrumental "Come To The Back", which is great although personally I prefer their slower, longer and doomier work. From that excitable bunch of noise-rockers called BLACKTAIL comes a song called "Shitiot", which can also be found on their cool-but-exhausting album "Styrofoam Island". One of the standout tracks is "(My) Cannonball", a heavy yet soulful piece of heavy rock 'n roll by LAMONT. Excellent!

A very pleasant surprise is "Dim Flickering Light" by WETNURSE is a solid, unadulterated yet modern metal tune filled to the brim with great riffs. "The Crack of Illumination" by WYOMING is a creepy, nightmarish bit of sludgy drone-rock. The longest track on the comp (6:42) is "Sav Rocker" by PEEPING TOM. Solid stoner riffola with some very bluesy leads. Another definite standout. "AC/ST" by THE DOES gives new meaning to the term 'basic'. Musically an absolute mess yet it practically oozes rock 'n roll (and the husky female vocals don't hurt either). "Attack Of The Crack Addicts" by DRUG WAR doesn't just take the cake for best song title, it's also an amazingly raw fist-in-the-air rocker. Try sitting still with this one. Betcha can't. THE MODEL SONS offer a nice change of pace with "Yeah", which sounds like an old fashioned sleaze rock band playing indie or emo rock. Yes, it can be done!

THE HIDDEN's "Settlement" is a ridiculously catchy punk n' roll tune with a singer that sounds remarkably like Glen Danzig. So yeah, it's kinda like THE MISFITS, only Danzig-era MISFITS never could play this well. "I'm Sick Again" by the oddly named WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE is old fashioned hard rock that sounds like a sludgier version of THE CULT. The singer sounds almost exactly like Ian Astbury. Although ABDULLAH are mostly known for their doom/stoner output, their contribution "Burning Away" is an interesting cross between VENOM and ENTOMBED. With a very catchy chorus. Absolutely love it! The heaviness continues with ICHABOD's "One In Six". FU MANCHU-like stoner with a singer that almost sounds like SYSTEM OF A DOWN's Serj Tankian. The climax is amazingly brutal. Play this one LOUD!!

Time to come up for air again with the more straight ahead punk / rock 'n roll sound of A .45 TO PAY THE RENT's "Leatherwolf", CAPITAL RADIO's "Longitude" and THE STOVES' "Pen Pal". The last two tracks are also the poppiest ones on the comp. Thankfully both "Nothing Wrong" by SHANGHAI VALENTINE and "Mud In Yer Eye" by the FAST ACTIN' FUSES stay on the right side of the punk pop line.

What we have here, folks, is a rare beast. A compilation with 22 tracks, and not a bad one to be found. Who cares if the mainstream rock world is ridden with disease because of all the crappy nu-metal groups, kiddie-punk bands and novelty grungers? The underground is alive and doing mighty fine. Well, at least in Boston it is.

- Van Hoften

OFFICIAL SITE: www.traktor7.com

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