Various Artists – Mullets and Alcoholics / 34 Tracks / 2003 SFL Recording / http://www.hussieskunk.com / http://www.sflrecords.com / Reviewed 10 February 2004

Now, most the time when compilations come to me, they are of over thirty bands, and I can cull a review of about 5 or 6 of those bands, with the rest of the bands being too atrocious to even give them a second listen. In fact, the only CD I couldn’t ever bring myself to review was a compilation. I had high hopes for this album, being from Hussieskunk, one of the internet-only punk stations. Before I actually put on this CD, I can only say that I had heard of less than five of the thirty-four acts on this disc. The quality on all these tracks are good, but are by no means the over-produced music of a number of larger acts currently out on the scene. Some bands are on their way up in popularity (Blitzkid, A Planet for Texas), where some of the bands are on their way down but are still most excellent (Millions of Dead Cops). There is not a general sound for the entirety of the CD, moving from horrorpunk to ska-punk to gutter punk all in the space of four or five songs.

Bands like International Businessmen do a traditional type of punk song about Russian soldiers (in Rooskie Salute). A sing-along anthem is contained in “Downtrodn”, which mixes breakneck vocal delivery in a whiny tone with a spastic bass to make something that is definitely more than the sum of its parts. The aforementioned MDC song is as good as any of the tracks on their previous albums, and Nothing Less infuses a small amount of ska to their pop-punk, making “Leavin’ You” an instant anthem for the genre. My Dad Joe comes through with some of the new-wave of hardcore, screeching guitars, and Thrice-like guitars in “Oh Donner”.

Overall, the amount of bands that are on this disc is ludicrous, and the amount of bands that really know what they are doing is amazingly higbh for a compilation. This isn’t the result of Hussieskunk sending out a mass email and taking the bands that e-mailed eir back. While the CD ends on a little sour of a note, with both Rockin’ Ryan and the Real Goners and Save Yourself playing paint-by-the-numbers rockabilly and hardcore respectively, the entirety of the CD is well worth the $6 postage paid price. While I was not familiar with many of the bands at the start of the disc, the quality of the acts that are on this disc are well above any compilation that I’ve heard in recent memory.

Top Tracks : US Chaos : “Suburban Monsters”, Rise & Shine : “The Things You Saved Can’t Be Replaced”

Rating : 7.6/10