Do It Yourself! Volume #10
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
"Me
and Mia"
This is Ted's second appearance on a DIY! compilation
and this tune is one serious chunk of pop-rock perfection for the decerning
listener. Unapologetically punk but decidedly grown-up.
Strung Out
"Analog"
It's metal. It's hardcore. It's the ultimate eighties
action soundtrack. Seriously, when this one kicked off I was like, "Whoa."
Then when the vocals came in... I had an overwhelming urge to watch "Out
of Bounds" starring Anthony Michael Hall.
Rocket from the Crypt
"Out
of Control"
While these guys feature horns and are popular with the
ska crowd, they are not a ska band. No, they rock too hard for all of that
nonsense. With hints of fifties-style rock and roll, they're like the punk
rock "Sha-na-na."
J-Church
"Keep Smiling
America"
These punk vets from San Francisco offer up a big chunk
of "get over yourself" to everyone preoccupied with their own petty problems.
Tight and melodic, these guys helped write the book on the punk revival.
INDK
"Off
the Scope"
From the remains of NY's crusty ska-punk outfit, Choking
Victim came Leftover Crack and INDK. These guys throw off the limitations
of the ska genre in favor of straight forward anarcho-political punk rock.
They got anger and opinions to spare.
King Apparatus
"Michael
and Anne"
King Apparatus is fronted by Chris Murray whom you might
remember from DIY! Vol. 1. He's famous for his solo/acoustic ska, but he
did some pretty solid work with these guys too. Very keyboard oriented
third wave that borrows a lot from some of the better 2 Tone acts.
Apocalypse Hoboken
"Monchichi"
You can't front on the Chicago punk scene. Most of the
stuff is so out there that it'll never see the light of day outside of
those filthy record shops where you walk in and feel like everybody's staring
at you wondering what the hell you're doing in there. Seriously, the maniacal,
brooding vocals here are worth the price of admission.
7Seconds
"Sour
Grapes"
This is the hardcore punk you put on when you're about
to begin your upper body workout. Relentless beat? Check. A wall of guitar?
Check. Manic bass runs? Snotty vocals? Check. Yup, it's a masterpiece.
Victor Rice
"Fernandinho"
I ain't gonna lie. This is probably the track you will
hate more than any other track that I've ever put on any of these discs.
But what you need to do is embrace the fact that it is an instrumental
reggae/dub/jazz track and then put it to use. Put this one on at medium
volume on a long night time drive by yourself. Believe me, Vic will become
the soundtrack to your nocturnal wanderings.
Pipsqueak
"I'll
Make Ya' Famous"
You got your punk rock in my folk. You got your folk
in my punk rock. I stumbled across this and couldn't stop listening to
it. It's like the drunkest guy in the room on open mic night gets up on
stage and blows everyone away in spite of his stupor.
About the Artwork:
I'd always wanted to do a take off on the omnipresent
"Now That's What I Call Music!" series. It's just such an icon that stands
for eveything that is bad about pop music that I couldn't help using it
for the landmark 10th entry into the DIY! series. Also, a little bit of
trivia... I did a quasi-mock up of a "Now" spoof for a disc I made for
Jay's Asia trip that I was gonna call, "Mao, That's What I Call Music!"
