I really don’t need to write much in this review; because there is one reason you absolutely need to buy this CD. That reason is "Junco Partner", originally by the Clash, here covered live by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros. Seriously. I don’t use the word “phenomenal” in my reviews, because that’s really cliché, but if I did I would use it to describe "Junco Partner", probably with a lot of exclamation marks. I don’t care what you think of Strummer’s post-Clash career, this cover is amazing, brilliant, wonderful, marvelous, and magnificent (I love the ‘thesaurus’ button).

Now, moving on…

There are a lot of punk compilations out there. Some of them have rare or unreleased tracks. Some have phsycobilly, ska and reggae on them as well. Some of them are even as cheap as this one, somewhere around $6. And a whole lot of them are pretty crappy.

The fourth edition of Hellcat’s "Give ‘em the Boot", like the rest of the series, is pretty good. A lot of the rare/unreleased songs are nice; Rancid’s "Killing Zone" is better then most of the album it was written for, "Caught In Between" by F-Minus is 1:17 of shouty, driving, energetic street punk, the Dropkick Murphys give us a cover of Woody Guthrie’s "I’m Shipping Up To Boston", which only sounds a tiny bit melodramatic. There’s a song by one of Duane Peter’s bands, Die Hunns, and Mr. Peters rarely disappoints. There’s a remix of the Transplants’ "Romper Stomper" that’s pretty good if that’s your kind of thing.

And what about previously released tracks? We’ve got "1%" by Lars and the Bastards, one of the better songs off "Viking", the wonderful "Where They Wander" by the HorrorPops, "Dirty Reggae" by the Aggrolites, who are a band I hadn’t heard until now but somehow feel I should have looked for much earlier.

Things aren’t all peachy—No matter what I do I can’t make myself like the Slackers, who give us the previously-unreleased and entirely boring song "Propaganda." "Atomic" is not one of Tiger Army’s best songs, although it’s not at all bad. "Let There Be Peace" by Chris Murray is kind of dull, and sounds very out of place between Brain Failure’s anthemic "That's What I Know" and the Nekromantix song "Dead Bodies."

But the Hellcat roster is pretty damn good, and all of the "Give ‘em the Boot" CD's reflect that. Sure, maybe some of the punk bands sound kinda similar. But for $5 or $6? If you like the Hellcat sound, why don’t you own this already?



Label: Hellcat Records
Release: November 9th, 2004

Track Listing:

01. “Killing Zone” – Rancid *
02. “Dirty Reggae” – the Aggrolites
03. “Atomic” – Tiger Army
04. “Propaganda” – the Slackers *
05. “Kiss Kiss Kill Kill” – Roger Miret and the Disasters
06. “Lost Paradise” - U.S. Roughnecks
07. “Caught in Between” – F-Minus *
08. “Marshall Law” – Die Hunns *
09. “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” – Dropkick Murphys *
10. “1%” – Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards
11. “That’s What I Know” – Brain Faliure *
12. “Let There Be Peace” – Chris Murray
13. “Dead Bodies” – Nekromantix *
14. “Romper Stomper (remix)” – the Transplants *
15. “Junco Partner (live)” – Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros *
16. “No Rest For the Weekend” – Orange *
17. “Dia De Los Muertos” – Rezurex *
18. “Waste of Time” – the Unseen *
19. “Break Me” – Ducky Boys *
20. “Where They Wander” – the HorrorPops
21. “S.C. Drunx” – South Central Riot Squad
22. “Trauma” – Mercy Killers *
23. “Skinwalkers” – 12 Step Rebels *
24. “Wasted Life” – the Escaped
25. “Rise Up” – Pressure Point *
26. “Room to Breathe” – Westbound Train *

* = rare/previously unreleased

Rating:



Review by: Lyndie