Published on May 27, 1999
What exactly
is punk rock? If you spent your teenage years in the ’70s,
chances are names like the Sex Pistols come to mind. If you were a
teen in the ’80s like I was, groups like Black Flag, Husker Du and
Fear undoubtedly were in your record collection. These days, Green
Day and the Offspring are seen as punk.
Now, you won’t hear me calling any band in today’s scene as fake
punk; like all forms of music, punk must change and mature for the
times. But you also won’t hear me calling myself an expert in this
field; if only Paul Hanson were back from his hiatus, he could
school me.
If you’re curious to discover what lies in punk beyond Green
Day’s audio assault, then a sampler from their former label
Lookout!,
The Last Great Thing You Did, might be the perfect solution
for you. The price is right (it retails for only about $4), and
there’s a wide selection of bands on the disc (21 different groups
on 23 tracks). But in its strength is also its weakness, as this
disc gets to be a little overpowering, despite clocking in at under
45 minutes.
In a sense, it’s really hard to say that such a disc is going to
convince you one way or the other to pick up an album by any of the
included bands. Not that the album’s compilers did a bad job, but
it’s very hard to gauge what a band is like in a two-minute blast
of energy. Still, I guess there is a chance that someone listening
to one track might develop a curiosity about the band they just
heard.
And, in a sense, it did happen to me. Two tracks stood out on
the initial listen: “Political Asshole” from Pansy Division (a
track which captures both the power and the humor the genre has
right now) and “Life During Wartime” from Pinhead Gunpowder. If,
when you listen to this song, you swear you’re listening to Green
Day, let’s just say you’re one-thirds right. (I’ll leave it up to
you to find out the whole story – hey, I can’t give away
every secret in my reviews!)
And, much to my surprise, the bands who tried to stay true to
the original work ethic of punk really missed the target (or maybe
it’s just that they sounded out of place compared to the bulk of
this disc). Case in point: “Fuk Shit Up” from Blatz, which suffered
from an overall poor production. (I question whether better
knob-twirling would have helped this song.)
But throwing 21 different bands at you – especially if you’re
someone who is picking this disc up without knowing much about the
label or its bands – at one time does get to be a little too much,
and after a while, it’s hard to tell the difference between Groovie
Ghoulies, Mr. T Experience and Potatomen.
Still,
The Last Great Thing You Did is a nice way to sample some
bands you might never have heard of (not to mention searched out
their albums) at a price that can’t be beat. Even if you end up not
liking the disc, you’re only out a few bucks – hell, picking this
disc up costs less than going to see the new
Star Wars movie, and at least you have more to show for the
experience than just a ticket stub afterwards.
If you are the least bit curious about what the ’90s punk craze
is about, search this disc out – but it might be wise to take it on
in portions.