V/A – Punks and Pints Volume Two / 2005 Sliver / 27 Tracks / http://www.silverrecords.com / Reviewed 21 December 2005

The first volume of Punks and Pints was pretty impressive to come out of the place it came; 3 Inch Max comes out with a track that recalls both Thought Riot and Strike Anywhere in its skillful mixture of AFI and hardcore punk. The chunky bass of The Spazms during their “Money Shots” is something pulled straight out of the Cali-punk of the early nineties, while the Joan Jett meets Bikini Kill version of the vocals meshes well with the rest of the track. The tempered sound of Sledgeback on their “Don’t Wanna Know” is topped by a throaty set of vocals that mix Mike Ness and Tim (Rise Against), while the simplistic arrangement of the track seem pulled out of the past (think Osker).

The radio-friendly nature of the first few salvos of this second volume of Punks and Pints says a lot about the Northwest’s punk scene, as it entails a high amount of genres with a corresponding height in talent held by each band here. The rfirst step down in the production quality of this disc comes with Shift Man Shift’s “Let It Go”, but this drop in quality is inversely proportional with the catchiness of the track. In that sense, Shift Man Shift is easily the equivalent to “Ignition”-era Offspring and “Recipe For Hate”-era Bad Religion. While the opening to No Means Yes’ “Excuses” is admittedly a kibosh on the fast tempo of the beginning of the disc, the break-neck tempo of the second half of the track more than makes up for this audible weakness. There is not just the Cali-style of punk rock covered by the bands on Punks and Pints, especially considering the presence of an act like Lack of Respect, who mix traditional “tough guy” hardcore with a chunky bass a la To My Surprise or Primus.

Even when a band breaks out the done to death distortion like The Marks, the intensity in which the vocals are couched on the track brings this out of the dust heap into something that can genuinely be enjoyed by a large section of society. Even incorporating the 90s emo of bands like Fugazi and Sunny Day Real Estate (and even a little bit of The Anniversary) to the mix, bands like Typical Ace continue the high quality of all the acts on this second volume of Punks and Pints.

Top Tracks: Shift Man Shift’s “Let It Go”, Typical Ace’s “Anything For A Smile”

Rating: 8.2/10

[JMcQ]