V/A – First Taste of the Morning

V/A – First Taste of the Morning / 2005 TDR / 18 Tracks / http://www.tdrrec.com / Reviewed 09 January 2006

There is honestly no way that TDR Records could start this compilation out any better. The poppy, emo styles of Valencia with “The Space Between” is prim and proper, cultivated for radio and video play and will insert itself in a listeners’ brain nigh forever. And – if you can believe it – The Spotlight even makes the disc stronger with their “King Of Wishful Thinking”. Where the hell does TDR get all of these acts? Honestly, the best songs on this compilation are not those bands on major labels like A-F (Much The Same), Lobster (Park, Over It), but rather acts like Valencia, The Spotlight, and Brookside.

The only problem that I could conceivably see as a problem is that TDR shoots their load early with The Spotlight; “King Of Wishful Thinking” is honestly the best song I’ve heard in years, and it is 2nd here. This means that when there is a track like “Mixin’ Up Adjectives” (by This Is Me Smiling), the glory of a “King Of Wishful Thinking” overshines any talent that the band might be able to dredge up. The Mile After is probably the best major label band on this compilation; coming out of Rushmore (Drive-Thru), the mixture of late nineties Christian rock (styled, not message) with emo seems a perfect fit. The slightly harder edge of Much The Same really reflects the fact that they are on A-F records; “What I Know” seems to be more of a mix of Green Day and Rise Against than anything else.

Even as the disc moves away from some of the larger label bands, the quality does not wane; Underscore’s “Distance Makes The Heart Grow” has a set of vocals that are bristling with energy that would even rival early Taking Back Sunday. Even when the momentum of the disc slows down (most notably during The Track Record’s “Talk Radio”), the quality of the bands present on “First Taste of the Morning” makes this shift in sound easily digestible. Everything is perfect about this compilation, whether it be the quality of the bands culled by TDR or by the skillful manipulation of the tone of the disc, which winds down considerably during both The Track Record and the Transition tracks here. Please TDR, make the “First Taste of the Morning” into a series of compilations, where each subsequent year would merit a minor name change (the second year being “Second Taste of the Morning”). This is the best compilation out in years, since even perhaps the earliest days of Punk O Rama.

Top Tracks: The Spotlight’s “King Of Wishful Thinking”, The Mile After’s “Let It Down”

Rating: 8.6/10

[JMcQ]