Record Label: Thick Records
Genre: Punk
Band Link: link
Buy on Amazon.com link

This comp gives me hope that Chicago punk no longer sounds like Chicago punk. I’ve always hated that Chicago-style overly distorted “wall of sound” crap that turns melody into mud.

But this cheapo comp ($7 for 14 tracks) reflects the new wave of Chicago punk, and there’s a lot of variety here. Unfortunately, that means a lot of emo and emocore garbage (Allister, Much the Same, Killing Tree, Ryan’s Hope, Break the Silence, etc), but the comp also features pop-punkers The Methadones, jazzy Colossal, spazzy post-punk-with-horns Cougars, street punky Horace Pinker, and more.

The comp is eclectic (aside: hey, anyone remember that Chicago punk band the Eclectics?), but most of it is subpar. Too much generic emocore and sappy emo-pop, not enough straight-up punk. Surely there must be SOME bands in Chicago that just play normal punk? Yes? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Guess not. So yeah – Chicago sucks.

Bottom Line:
Notable Tracks: Tracks from Methadones, Cougars, The Bomb
Overall Rating: