Kill The Hippies - Erectospective

Kill The Hippies - Erectospective / 2005 Rock-n-Roll Purgatory / 77 Tracks / http://www.angelfire.com/empire/kth/main.html / http://www.rocknrollpurgatory.com / Reviewed 30 August 2005

Kill The Hippies are the first band to ever do a reverse chronology for their complete retrospective. Most the time, individuals have to suffer through the caterwaulings of a very green band that really had no clue before getting to the gold. On both of these discs, the newest tracks open up the disc before going back into the annals of the band�s history (Kill The Hippies started in 1993). A number of the tracks really do not date themselves to a specific period in punk�s history; the tinny sound of tracks like �I Look For Trouble� really elicits a UK82 type of sound, while the following track Dildo Dildo Dildo brings a heavier bass presence to the mixture and re-casts the bad in a completely different light. The earlier the tracks get, the general trend is for the recording to decrease. Tracks like �Maquiladoras� thus have a �Bedtime�-era Dead Kennedys meets �80-85�-era Bad Religion sound, even down to the production value on the track. Tracks come and go; with average punk pacing for most of the tracks on the disc, Kill The Hippies show a maturity throughout by arranging their tracks in such a way that repetitious melodies and catchy vocals will drill their way in listeners� heads.

The second disc has a number of tracks that have been previously unreleased (a set of hits that start out the disc, actually), but the gold is to be found on the continual hit-machine that is the first disc. The crazily-constructed bass lines that dominate much of the airtime on the average Kill The Hippies sound provides a distinct sound that will resonate loudly in the ears of both punks and music critics alike. Sure, the mastering on some of the tracks on �Erectrospective� may be somewhat tinny, but the bouncing beat and infectious songs of Kill The Hippies shine through as clear as day. By the time the second half of the first disc starts, listeners will have tuned out the fuzz and will concentrate intensely on the always-changing but never plain sounds of this act. As the years turn back while the discs spin forward, one notices that earlier tracks like �Holiday In WWIII� still has a glimpse of the catchiness that would be so present in the average later Kill The Hippies song, but does not have any of the experimentative arrangements or quite as distinctive instrumental work that are so present on later tracks.

Top Tracks: We�re The Tough Guy, Maquiladoras

Rating: 7.4/10