Various
Short Music for Short People (1999)
ChrisGorman2
Wow. 101 bands with 30 second songs. I think this is a really cool idea, but sadly, it's an idea that doesn't really work. FAT head honcho Fat Mike got together the cream of the punk crop to play 30 second songs, and compiled them on the ultimate punk sampler. Most of the FAT roster is included, as is much of the Epitaph, Hopeless, Lookout, etc rosters. I'll proceed to hit the highlights.
Less Than Jake - Anchor - Feels like one of the only whole songs on here, I would like to hear it in a longer version. Classic LTJ style.
Bad Religion - Out of Hand - Good song, even though its so short, it still manages to spout out the usual BR though-provoking lyrics.
Blink-182 - Family Reunion - "Shit piss fuck cunt cocksucker motherfucker tits fart turd and twat." This about says it for blink.
Green Day - The Ballad of Wilhelm Fink - Good little acoustic ditty.
Lagwagon - Randal Gets Drunk - ska-punk, Lagwagon stylee.
Gwar - Fishfuck - Its gross, its cheezy, its not punk, its GWAR!
Mr. T Experience - Told you Once - This song says "fuck" a lot.
Descendents - I like Food - How can you not love the Descendents? I think their short songs are great, and this is no exception.
Dance Hall Crashers - Triple Track - This ska song actually talks about this album! "Got in a fight with Fat Mike when he called and told me, to write a thirty second song for his little CD".
Guttermouth - Don Camero Lost his Mind - An add for a magic shop, kinda funny.
Circle Jerks - Deny Everything - I like the Circle Jerks and you should too.
The Offspring - Hand Grenades - A great song that gives instructions for building explosives, right in your own home! Punk Rawk!
Mad Caddies - Mike Booted Our First Song, so We Recorded this One Instead - Classic Caddies style, I wish this song was longer. I think this band plays some of the most unique ska-punk around.
Youth Brigade - You Dont Know Shit - Great song telling all there detractors just where they can go. Great chorus too.
Spazz - A Prayer for the Complete and Utter eradication of all Generic Pop-Punk - The lone power violence band on this comp. Good song actually, about their hatred of mainstream punk, ska and swing. I love the vocals in this band.
Tilt - John For the Working Man - I like Tilt a lot, and this song is up there with their best work. Why does it have to be 30 seconds long! Arg. Oh well. Agressive female vocals over FAT style punk.
NOFX - See Her Pee - The usual from NOFX. When we bash Blink for being too juvenile, we have to remember who influenced them. This song is about wanting to see a girl squat in a parking lot and take a piss. Really catchy.
Rancid - Blacklisted - Good punk tune, about what you've come to expect from Rancid. I'd like to hear a longer version.
The Dwarves - The band that Wouldnt Die - A really cool song with some good vox. Typical Dwarves song about death and poop and stuff.
Lunachicks - Pretty Houses - The Lunachicks are Patty Smith to Tilt's Blondie. I love this band, and their screechy brand of punk - pseudo metal. This song is helps to end this CD on a great note.
So yeah, there you go, what I think are the highlights from this disc. There are other great bands on here too, such as The Living End, Samiam, Good Riddance, Nerf Herder, The Damned, H2O, Blag Flag, Anti-Flag, Screeching Weasel and Bodyjar. However, many of the contributions to this disc are just plain boring, as the songs have no time to develop. Some of the songs feel very incomplete, others feel rushed, and still other are just wastes of time that you would skip over if they were on the bands CD. Still, this has practically every punk band you could want, with only a few glaring omissions (Goldfinger? Voodoo Glow Skulls? Refused? Leatherface? Dropkick Murphys?). Anyway, its a cheap-o comp, so I would say buy it for the few good songs and the tons of bands. There will be something you like on here.