This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Five different punk and indie labels, five different in-house comps, five slightly different approaches — all of which deliver plenty of bands for the bucks:
• Epitaph’s ninth volume in the always-solid Punk-O-Rama series packs in nearly two dozen recent album tracks from a plethora of punks including Bad Religion, Rancid, Pennywise, Pully and Winnipeg’s hometown heroes The Weakerthans.
• Sub Pop’s 15-cut Patient Zero takes a similar tack, with previously issued fare from an eclectic roster that includes The Shins, Constantines, Iron & Wine and The Catheters.
• Vagrant’s Another Year On The Streets Vol. 3 stands out from the pack with a 15-song set dominated by previously unreleased fare from Alkaline Trio, Get Up Kids, Moneen and punk godfather Paul Westerberg.
• Delaware indie Jade Tree’s Location Is Everything Vol. 2 splits the old / new diff, with 15 recent cuts from lesser-known outfits like These Arms Are Snakes, Cex, Denali and Challenger, augmented by half a dozen unreleased cutsm including a demo from mope-rockers Pedro the Lion.
• Finally, if you want some politcal messaging with your music, you can’t do better than Fat Wreck’s timely Rock Against Bush Vol. 2, which aims to rock the vote with the help of 28 mostly unreleased anti-Dubya anthems by punks from Green Day and Foo Fighters to The Dwarves and Lagwagon.
For those who like to watch, Punk-O-Rama and Another Year On The Streets both come with DVDs loaded with footage (the Epitaph set includes The Weakerthans’ locally shot Psalm For The Elks Lodge Last Call), while Rock Against Bush includes a bonus disc of music videos, political comedy and activist shorts.
