This CD is a compilation of songs by Seattle bands The Generators and Sledgeback and Hungarian band C.A.F.B. The songs by the latter are all sung and titled in Hungarian. The CD begins with The Generators Tears of Repentence, which is a catchy enough punk/pop tune with plenty of hooks throughout to keep the listener interested. The second track is from Sledgeback (the name keeps reminding me of the character A Pimp Called Slickback from the Boondocks cartoon) is a fast-paced song with gritty vocals reminiscent of Mike Ness from Social Distortion. C.A.F.B. are similar in style to the two aforementioned bands and I’m glad that punk is alive and well in Eastern Europe. They also play a pure punk for now people style and all three bands are oi! oi! oi!.
However, after about the eighth song, the recording falls flat. The songs become largely formulaic. The Generators’ Man I Used To Be is largely a country tune, which in itself isn’t bad, but there’s nothing in this song that hasn’t been done already. There’s nothing making it stand out.
The exception to the blandness of the songs in the second half of the recording would be C.A.F.B.’s song Folyjon A Ver. This song is an attention grabber, with catchy vocals and guitar hooks and driving percussion.
However, on this song, and on the CD as a whole, the recordings don’t seem to be of high quality. The vocals stand out very well and are impressive with all three bands, but the guitars, harmonies and percussion just sound flat. They’re just sort of there with a thud in the background instead of integrating with each other to make a powerful song. Almost all these songs would be something to be reckoned with if the production sounded better.
I would definitely be keen on seeing any of these bands live and this CD is worthy of a listen (or several) for any of you who like in your face oi punk.
