V/A – Live at Continental Best of NYC Vol. I + II

V/A – Live at Continental Best of NYC Vol. I + II / 2005 Continentalnyc.com Records / 46 Tracks / http://www.continentalnyc.com / Reviewed 05 May 2005

I’ve never heard of the Continental. Then again, I’ve never been any more than 200 miles away from NYC in my life, so that probably explains a lot. The first volume of this set starts off unevenly, with Agnostic Front sounding amateurish, only being redeemed during the second track when Bellvue’s “Faded Flowers” really the sparkling, halcyon days of early Guns’N’Roses. What is exciting about this set is the fact that everything is recorded so well. This isn’t the down and dirty, fuzzy recordings of the past but really a nice ground between live and studio recording that allows bands like The Bouncing Souls, who rely much more on their nuanced sound than many bands to sound solid. While there are a number of big name bands (Agnostic Front, Bouncing Souls, Furious George, L.E.S. Stitches), there are some gems hidden amongst the lesser-famed bands (Candy Ass, David Ellis Group, Blisster) Cheetah Chrome’s version of “Sonic Reducer” has the same fury and intensity as when it first came out nearly thirty years ago, replete with sizzling guitar and seemingly the entire crowd joining in. To think about exactly how much music was recorded by the owners of the Continental to be condensed into these two albums is mind-boggling; nary a weak track adorns this set.

Battershell really has dropped off the face of the earth in the last half-decade, but they really make their triumphant return to the public eye with the first track on the second volume of Live at Continental. This track is a culmination of absurdly fast guitars and an intensity that never quits. However, the second disc of Live at Continental has a differing style that the first volume, in the sense that an entire section of the disc (running from Bottom through Gutter Girl) looks more at the rock aspect of punk instead of the hard-edged pop-punk that predominated throughout the first disc. One of the rock-heavy tracks on the second disc actually stands up to a more critical view. Honky Toast’s “Depression (I’m OK) has rockabilly guitars mixing with Cinderella-esque vocals in a dead-pan reenactment of all songs in that genre. To be honest, the second volume has a weaker selection of tracks than the first, understandable as many of the same bands (Bellvue, Bouncing Souls, Cheetah Chrome, H20) all are on both disc. The decision seems to be made. Both discs contain a wide swath of “punk” music, but for my money I would pick up the first volume.

Rating (Disc 1): 6.8/10
Rating (Disc 2): 5.5/10

Top Tracks: Furious George’s “I Am The King”, Independents’ “Vampires From Outer Space”