V/A - The New Crazy / 2005 Deep Elm / 20 Tracks / http://www.deepelm.com / Reviewed 13 July 2005

Its been quite a few years, but I think the time is past when Deep Elm would put ancient recordings by now-departed bands (White Orchid, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Walt Mink) on their compilations. This means that most of the tracks on “The New Crazy” are actually somewhat new, with six of the album’s twenty tracks being “exclusive” tracks. The order of “The New Crazy” is surprisingly strong and coherent, nowhere more obvious than from the one-two punch of Latterman and Lock and Key that starts off the disc.

The first major derivation from Deep Elm’s sound comes during Fightstar’s “Palahniuk’s Laughter”, which mixes nu-rock with the traditional “emo” sound that marked bands from Deep Elm. What results is a very crisp track that does have its murky moments; imagine Amber Pacific meeting Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foo Fighters. The solid instrumentation of the new Sounds Like Violence track, “Nothing” really portends many impressive things about their forthcoming album. Of particular note is the tremendous role that the bass guitar plays in the track, which adds a fullness that cannot be beat. The earthy sound of Burns Out Bright’s “Sincerely I” shows a band that surprisingly was able to increase geometrically on their already storied sound. What is Burns Out Bright’s strongest suit is their ability to convey emotion, something that is clear during the entirety of “Sincerely I”.

Latterman is truly the star of the compilation, as the hard-rocking, driving beat of “Fear And Loathing On Long Island” is a perfect blend of punk and emo, pushing itself beyond anything else that even the most famed emo bands (Coheed, Brand New) could put out. In one of the most interesting moves, Clair De Lune has went flip-mode on their listeners and taken up the flag of the dance-emo bands, although “Killjoy” is no Head Automatica track. “Killjoy” is a better example of a fusion track, mixing equally an electronic sound and a harder-edged “emo” style. There may be a few tracks on “The New Crazy” that take a long time to start (the trilogy of tracks by Slowride, Settlefish, and Surrounded are a perfect example), but the bombastic opening to the compilation, especially the new tracks found on the earlier section of the disc really is a bright spot for Deep Elm. Look for the new Sounds Like Violence, Benton Falls and Latterman discs and give them a listen.

Top Tracks: Latterman’s “Fear And Loathing On Long Island”, Burns Out Bright’s “Sincerely I”

Rating: 6.9/10