Search - Garage Punk Unknowns :: Garage Punk Unknowns Volume 02

Not as good as volume one

Zelie Nic | Pittsburgh | 01/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...but still a great collection of near impossible to find songs. The great thing about this series as a whole is the fact that the CD insert contains brief information about the song and the artists.



Slag it if you want, even I'll say it, a lot of these songs are hit or miss. Regardless, all the songs have energy and are played with reckless, sloppy, enthusiasm and this record beats turnign the radio on any day of the week.



Good luck finding a copy under $50... I spent five years tracking these two discs down and bought each for under $30."

Middle of the road garage rock

Laszlo Matyas | 12/18/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The second Garage Punk Unknowns CD is something of a disappointment. While its predecessor was a lipsmacking platter of high-energy teenage howl, this disc is weighed down by a lot of generic, largely forgettable songs. Where volume 1 was stuffed with weird, wild, and ferocious grease punk, this follow-up is plagued by derivative and faceless tunes. "The Sultans Five's You Know, You Know" takes a passionless stab at an annoyingly repetitive melody, while Ambertone does (yet another) by-numbers version of "I Can Only Give You Everything." The Rolling Ramsax's "You've Hurt Me So" is a dull ballad, and the Dirty Shames' version of "Makin' Love" (the Sloths tune found on Back From The Grave CD Volume 2) isn't even close to the grimy slopfest masterpiece that the original was.



Still, there is some good stuff here: The Ardels' "Piece Of Jewelry" is a gritty piece of teenage sneer, and 006's "Like What, Me Worry?" is weird, raw, cool, and menacing as hell. The Lost Souls' "My Girl" is a strange, haunting semi-ballad, and the Torquays' "Stolen Moments" is a foot-stomper if there ever was one.



So, a decent but not great garage rock comp. A good purchase for a garage rock nut."