V/A – Sacto Scene Report / 2004 TKO Records / 10 Tracks / http://www.tkorecords.com / Reviewed 09 February 2005

Comparing one’s album to something like “Flex Your Head” just is setting someone up for failure. However, the Whiskey Rebels come storming out of the gate with “Yolo Bus Blues”, with their own view of Rancid-esque punk rock that is more than a little bit tinged by both Poison and the more-current emo-rock movement. Continuing their high-quality attack on the ears of all their listeners, the Whiskey Rebels’ second chamber is “America”, which feels to me to be a less nasal version of Anti-Flag and Lars Frederickson and The Bastards. Oi finally comes back out of its dark cave with Pressure Point, a band that has all the energy of a Sham 69 or Stars & Stripes. Just the way that Mike’s vocals lay willy-nilly, totally fuck-you on the track (“Give Me Liberty”) is enough to give chills to anyone that is lucky enough to listen to the track. The strong production values on Pressure Point’s tracks combat the tendency of oi bands to use the worst recordings ever, so to listen to an oi band that I don’t have to tune out three levels of noise with.

While the Killing the Dream tracks seem a little out of places on “Sacto Scene Report” , th presence of the tracks shouldn’t be a surprise. As is mentioned on the press release, “Our inspiration..[is to collect] bands playing in a variety of styles/genres that were all from the same local scene”. Killing the Dream’s first track, “Picking Up The Pieces”, is fairly enjoyable with the greatest influence to their sound coming from Thought Riot. However “We Speak in Clocks” just conforms to the same bland, over-popular hardcore style that has choked all creativity from most of the bands coming up through the bush leagues right now.

Covering a Hank Williams, Jr track for their first track, the Secretions’ version is a fairly bland, uninspired cover of the original (with a rockabilly influence and Street Dogs-esque vocal harmonization). Lifting a Sex Pistols guitar riff and placing it under a Ramones-style of vocals, the Secretion’s second track “Long Lonely Road” is again underwhelming. Ending the disc is the Roustabouts (now American Static), which play a brand of thrash-punk with hardcore all-in choruses (Stick to Your Guns). The Roustabouts final track, “Freedom” is a perfect ending for the disc, using a whole crew to lay down the opening lines of the CD.

Top Tracks: Whiskey Rebels’ “Yolo Bus Blues”, The Roustabouts’ “Freedom”

Rating: 6.2/10