As with previous installments,
Hopeless Records
' sixth volume of their
Hopelessly Devoted to You
series is a fine sampler of bands from their roster (and sister label,
Sub City
) that includes album tracks alongside multiple unreleased and acoustic versions. This time around there's more to love, though, as the label took special care to make plenty of room for both new and old bands by dishing up two audio discs and an accompanying DVD of music videos. The first disc boasts most of the fresh blood.
Pop
-
punk
up-and-comer
Amber Pacific
presents two particularly delectable tracks;
Ever We Fall
offers sweet and shimmering
indie pop
(and a weird
techno
remix);
Royden
provides some post-
hardcore
aggression;
Kaddisfly
bring their own brand of eccentric
funk-rock
to the table. Various active label veterans also account for strong disc one showings, including the snotty,
ska
-infused styling of
Against All Authority
and an unreleased
Thrice
track. Disc number two is more of the fun history lesson, as the ghosts of
Hopeless
' musical past have all come out to play. With
Guttermouth
,
88 Fingers Louie
Mustard Plug
the Queers
Common Rider
Fifteen
Dillinger Four
, and
Samiam
, to name a handful, there's a lot to like here. Material from early
Avenged Sevenfold
and
efforts show up, alongside two helpings of
the Weakerthans
(the rousing
"Aside"
is especially tasty). A politically oriented and acoustic guitar-armed
Mike Park
also makes a notable appearance, while
Atom & His Package
proves his quirky skills were in place well before
MC Lars
first brought his laptop to the attention of the "iGeneration." Overall, the collection is a good introduction to the
of today and yesterday for interested
punk revival
parties and well worth picking up. ~ Corey Apar