Review: The Thing That Ate Floyd

Various Artists
“The Thing That Ate Floyd (or ’38 Bands That’s Can’t Mosh’)”
(Lookout! Records)

Thirty eight bands make up a comp, which means a good portion suck, eh? Wrong. What a great sampler! If I had this CD when I was younger, it would have blown me away. This is the perfect complication, jumbling major acts like Neurosis and No Use for a Name with genre influencing bands like Operation Ivy and Crimpshrine, and then filling the rest with a boatload of acts from all sorts of directions and sound. This is really the only kind of compilation worth buying, because out of 38 acts, you know you’ll be interested in at least one or two acts. Don’t worry about what a reviewer says–pick this album up, and get a good dose of Lookout! music, who is kinda the Club 54 of punk, whatever that means. It seems, whenever you’re paying attention to something else, they are always involved in starting cool trends or bands. Green Day, Operation Ivy etc. OK, they didn’t start those bands, just released some of their music, but still. Check out a list of every band that’s had a Lookout! release, and you’ll see at least half a list bands that don’t suck, which is a pretty good ratio, considering that some “indie” labels are indie for a reason: they sign shitty acts. And yes, people, there is a huge difference between signing non-mainstream acts and shitty acts. I think labels like Lookout! and Alternative Tentacles realize that they may not have an band that goes triple platinum (at least a band that will STAY on their label after becoming majorly popular), but as a collective, their acts generally have more heart and integrity. Isn’t that better then money? Not really, but it’s really close.