Good old Epitaph. Whereas most punk labels seem to view every new release as an opportunity to further a narrow, subgenre-specific vision of what "punk"...

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Good old Epitaph. Whereas most punk labels seem to view every new release as an opportunity to further a narrow, subgenre-specific vision of what "punk" means (see Vagrant, Victory, or Bridge Nine for examples), Punkorama 10 shows that Brett Gurewitz and his label have made an impressive attempt to assemble a stable of artists who'll never be pigeonholed into one easily-defined category. Artists as diverse as alt-rappers Sage Francis and Atmosphere, pop-punkers NOFX, psychobilly act Tiger Army and bluesy rockers the Black Keys call Epitaph home, and with the exception of the Black Keys (who only appear on the accompanying DVD), they're all included here.

Admittedly, when all of these artists are put together on one album, it makes for a less-than-cohesive listening experience. Near the disc's beginning, for example, hardcore (From First To Last's "Failure By Designer Jeans") is followed by rap ("Sun Vs. Moon", from Francis), which in turn gives way to Bad Religion. Similarly, listeners may be put off by the juxtaposition of Youth Group's pretty-sounding pop, Dropkick Murphys's Celtic kick, and straight-up hip-hop from Dangerdoom (a collaboration by Danger Mouse and MF Doom).

You get the feeling, though, that Epitaph couldn't care less about whether two bands are stylistically compatible. As Punkorama 10 demonstrates, they've built up a roster that can't easily be summarized or labeled. For anyone whose tastes run beyond such simple categorization -- which means, we hope, everyone reading this review -- that's great news.

www.splendidezine.com

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So is a record label’s sampler supposed to give you a good idea of the bands on a label or give fans access to rare and previously unreleased songs? ...

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So is a record label’s sampler supposed to give you a good idea of the bands on a label or give fans access to rare and previously unreleased songs? Based on Epitaph’s latest installment in their Punk-O-Rama series, it is the latter. This answer, however, has its upside and its downside. The upside is that fans can find rare tracks from their favorite bands. The downside is that unreleased tracks are typically unreleased because they’re not good enough to be a track on a band’s record.

Still, this sampler gives unfamiliar listeners a fairly accurate idea of the music Epitaph has to offer. And what Epitaph has to offer these days is decidedly different from what it was releasing 10 years ago. Don’t worry, you’ll still hear tracks from Epitaph punk rock staples NOFX, Pulley, Pennywise, and Millencolin. But you’ll also hear a lot of not-so-punk stuff: generic screamo (From First to Last), chaotic hardcore (Converge), rock (The Special Goodness), and – gulp! – hip-hop (Atmosphere). Fortunately, the folks at Epitaph know how to pick good bands for their label.

It wouldn’t be fair for me to list the best tracks on the audio CD, because I’m not a fan of every style that (the not-so-aptly named) Punk-O-Rama 10 has to offer. But most of the tracks here represent some of the best music that their respective genres have to offer – even the hip-hop.

But the real gem of this release is the the accompanying DVD. Generally, independent music videos are low-quality, uninspired junk. Thankfully, the pieces on the Punk-O-Rama 10 DVD is much better. While the videos here don’t have the budgets that artists on MTV’s TRL might have, the quality is high, and the content is superb. Many of these videos put major-label videos to shame simply by employing unique video concepts and filming tricks. Standout videos belong to The Weakerthans (musical theater criminal convictions), Horrorpops (rockabilly movie night!), The Special Goodness (they are playing in a big refrigerator, people!), Black Keys (isn’t that one guy from Late Night with Conan?), Atmosphere (the paparazzi love homeless drunks), and Youth Group (the drummer’s nose is bleeding the whole time). Meanwhile, the award for “Cheesiest Faux-Rocking in a Music Video Ever” goes to From First to Last, whose otherwise excellent video is ruined by the extreme cheese factor of the band.

Go ahead, shell out 4 or 5 bucks and buy Punk-O-Rama 10. Even if you never listen to the CD, you should at least check out the videos these bands have to offer. If you are unsatisfied, e-mail Conrad and ask for your money back.

www.decapolis.com/

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