Search - Various Artists :: European Poppunk Virus 2

The Kids Are Alright...

Clark Paull | Murder City | 04/27/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's as obvious as a two-dollar wig on a bald man that Stardumb has quickly risen to the top of the pop punk big rock candy mountain, European division, with a series of albums from the likes of Backwood Creatures, The Apers, Sonic Dolls, and the Groovie Ghoulies which are positively rippling with axe-laced ear candy, heady harmonies, and crunchy, spirited production - no small feat considering none of these merry marketing-age kids with guitars, bass, drums and a dream are likely to carve out a big old hunk of the MTV pie for themselves. For "The European Poppunk Virus Vol. 2" (released nearly two years after the first compendium), Stardumb conducted another continental cattle call, found their mailbox flooded with responses, and picked 28 songs from 28 bands, all previously unreleased. Relatively speaking, this one isn't quite up to usual Stardumb standards (i.e., near perfection), but that's like saying Ariel Bender ain't no Mick Ralphs. Given his track record, we should probably forgive Stefan Stardumb's foibles since even God occasionally screws up (how else to explain the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, light beer, or Joe Strummer's early exit from the planet?). Immediately apparent is the huge shadow the Ramones cast over this entire album from the music right down to the often painfully contrived and cutesy stage names adopted by most of the musos who appear here. "Too Good For Me" from Scotland's Ritalins welds a slightly-accelerated opening salvo of drums straight out of "Rock & Roll High School" with a Johnny-like chord sequence from "Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?", throwing in handclaps and lead vocals from Si Ritalin which are younger, louder, and snottier than even those of the late Stiv Bators. The least successful songs on this compilation are those that stray the farthest from Stardumb's tried and true formula (not to be confused with formulaic) of larger-than-life hooks puncuated with buzzing guitars, punchy drums, and bratty vocals. England's Zatopeks' doo-woppish "Devil In A '55," while not interminable, just seems out of place and in dire need of an umbrella considering the sh*t storm of fizzy carbonation raining down around it. Old-school power pop merchants Any Trouble once tried to warn that "girls are always right" but somebody forgot to tell Germany's Boonaraaas!!! (worthy of three exclamation points? - hardly), The Waukees (Italy), and Spoonster (Scotland) whose frontwomen all waste time chasing the ghosts of Debbie Harry, Lene Lovich, and Poly Styrene. It's not that their contributions are all that bad or even unwelcome, but I have some sort of mental block (some would argue mental problem) that I just can't come to grips with when it comes to chicks trying to resurrect the rock. Believe it or not, the intro to The Flakes' (Sweden) "She's So Natural" sounds like something right out of the Iron Maiden canon before it blossoms into a frothy chunk of pop fluff which wouldn't seem out of place as the theme song to a 1970's Friday night sit-com. Call it a hunch, but I'd be willing to bet Germany's Battledykes have a few Toy Dolls albums in their collection and their "Leave Me Alone" is the kind of pop workout Olga would be proud to claim as his own. Elsewhere, Stardumb serves up two more flat-out great barnstormers from what is suspiciously looking like a bottomless reserve on the parts of The Apers and Backwood Creatures, both full of diamond-hard hooks and a throbbing rhythmic pulse. As much as I'm prone to fawn over both groups, they may well have met their match in The Grizzly Adams Band from (everybody together now!) Germany, whose "She Sucked My Brain Out" is over much too soon at 1:37. Watch out for these guys. They have a new album due out soon on the Chief label and if this song is any indicator, it's going to brighten quite a few worlds. So is the fact that "The European Poppunk Virus Vol. 2" is two beers shy of a six-pack a sign the apocalypse is at hand or merely evidence that Stardumb is run by humans instead of factory automatons preprogrammed to churn out sizzling, three-minute blasts of heroic, swirling pop punk with hearts full of soul? Who cares? This ain't rocket science and I say that's a beautiful thing"