v/a "There's No Place Like Home" compilation CD
[Geek Scene]
This compilation is a document of the Margate and Canterbury scenes in England, which makes it odd that there are lots of international bands present (in fact the majority of the bands are from outside of England), but the liner notes in the booklet explain that some of bands played in town or simply remind the guy putting it together of certain connections to the cities. I think it was a heinous decision to open with Slicing Grandpa's "Thought Police Invade Almira" (which consists of nothing but programmed drums, subtle feedback noises, and obnoxious spoken word), which honestly shouldn't be included at all, and it's not until the fifth track that we hear an English band (the fairly good Autumn Year). This is a really diverse collection, though. There are several tracks in an emo/indie vein, but not the catchy/poppy side, the darker and more angular side is favored. Then you've got Asshole Parade's fast, slightly heavy hardcore; the chaotic and ultra metallic discordance of Canvas; a surprising appearance by Catharsis (with a song from "Passion"); melodic hardcore with a street punk-ish edge from Finland's Endstand; straight up hardcore from Good Clean Fun; and then some. Leiah (Sweden) offers up a really nicely balanced track of melodic emo with a tinge of heaviness, only marginally held back by slightly whiny vocals, but generally quite cool. A few other tracks that serve no real purpose here are North by Northwest's "Twelve Minutes" (ironically it only runs 11:09), which is actually a good combination of droning, noisy guitars and smooth clean passages with an improvisational edge that just happens to drag on and stick out like a sore thumb (it probably should've been the final track, if anything - I do like it, but not in this context). The Krupted Peasant Farmerz song is just a piece of shit though, poorly recorded and goofier sounding than anything else herein. Aside from that track most of the bands have surprisingly good recordings, making me wonder if all of the songs are previously released on other records (I know that a good number of them are). The layout's alright, but pretty bland. The fonts are the most boring thing about it, but I do like how everything is set up, and the idea of having the person who put this out write a little snippet about each band/track is pretty unique. I definitely like the fact that there are a wide variety of musical styles represented here, as it keeps things interesting and ensures that most people will like at least one or two songs on this thing. Like basically every compilation it's hit and miss, but there are a lot of bands here that I'd like to check out, so overall it's an effective release. I personally think it should've been limited to bands from England, just to better exemplify the scenes it is supposed to represent on some level, but hey... good music is good music. (6/10)
Running time - 68:04, Tracks: 21
[Notable tracks: Asshole Parade, Autumn Year, Catharsis, Leiah, 30 Seconds to Armageddon]
Geek Scene recordings - http://www.geekscene.co.uk

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