V/A – Slaying Since 1996 / 2006 Suicide Squeeze / 34 Tracks / http://www.suicidesqueeze.net / Reviewed 25 August 2006

There are tons of huge acts that have been on Suicide Squeeze at one time or another. In fact, I had no idea that so many large acts had made it big on this record label . For example, 764-Hero, Modest Mouse, Pedro The Lion, The Black Keys, and Les Savy Fav all created something for the label at one point or another, since 1996. Considering that those are just a few names out of a total of 34 tracks on the double-CD set, individuals should understand that they have lots to listen to. A number of the singles that make their way onto this compilation are out of print, alleviating the need to search for increasingly price pieces of vinyl to get elusive tracks.

Beyond that, practically all of the second disc (which has a number of acts that are more of the current of Suicide Squeeze’s history) provides l;listeners with tracks that have been previously released; acts like These Arms Are Snakes, Hella, Of Montreal, and Headphones all throw in during this disc. This double-disc is not just going forward and putting out songs that individuals have heard time and time before, but it provides listeners with a batch of songs that should bring listeners t=into independent record shops all over the world to find some of these earlier Suicide Squeeze releases. The one constant that shown itself throughout the last decade of Suicide Squeeze’s music has to be their dedication to putting out the cutting edge in indie and alternative rock.

Thus, Pedro The Lion’s “June 18, 1976”, a 2000 track, is working with an “OK Computer” era Radiohead meets Coldplay type of sound, putting the band smack-dab in the middle of what was happening at the time. I think what Suicide Squeeze needs to do now is to release some of the rarer early releases (maybe not the 7 inches) and add on some other tracks from their vault, a la the Sire re-releases of the early Ramones albums. This would provide added revenue fopr the label (to let it run for another 10 years) as well as getting fans some live, bootleg, or otherwise unknown tracks by bands that may have folded up shop years and years ago. There are few compilations that are worth listeners’ time, but Suicide Squeeze comes up with one that should stay in listeners’ disc changes for months to come.

Top Tracks: The Black Heart Procession “After The Ladder”, Modest Mouse “A Life Of Artic Sounds”

Rating: 6.9/10

[JMcQ]