REVIEW: Various Artists, United States of Punk (Music Club)
- Steve Kandell
This mid-priced collection of American punk classics and rarities gets off to a strange start, with a live version of the New York Dolls' "Personality Crisis" that sounds so muffled it would barely qualify as bootleg-caliber. There's no denying the energy of the performance or the quality of the song itself, but I can't help but wonder why it sounds like David Johansen is singing in a club across the street from the rest of his band. But then again, defying sonic expectations was what these early punk bands were all about, so why not?
In addition to showcasing legendary bands like the Dolls, Dead Kennedys and The Ramones (represented here by a demo version of "Judy Is a Punk"), lesser-known bands such as Boston's DMZ are also featured on this disk. The word "punk" is too easily associated with fast songs and snarling lyrics, but there is a lot of room for variety in the genre as far as styles are concerned. Songs like "Wimp" by Southern California's Weirdos and The Real Kids' "Do the Boob" are also slower, and even playful. "Rocket USA," from New York's Suicide, is droning, minimalist synth pop, but it's still somehow no less "punk" than Jello Biafra's angry ranting.
Thing is, if you already appreciate this mid-to-late-70's proto-punk, then you probably have most of these songs in other, more sonically strident versions. In fact, the included versions of the Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer" and Dead Kennedys' "Holiday in Cambodia" don't appear to be outtakes at all. A notable exception is Devo's four-track basement recording of "Mongoloid," Ohio lo-fi that predates Guided By Voices by well over a decade. These alternate tracks are not without their curiosity value to the punk completist, but they are hardly revelations. There is simply not that much difference, musically speaking, between a Ramones demo and a final version - hell, there's not even much difference between individual Ramones songs at all - but that's exactly the appeal of this music. At its inception, punk was a direct reaction to the canned theatrics of prog-rock, and the whole point was that the records were all demos, raw and of the moment rather than produced and nuanced.
On the other hand, if a sampler like this is your introduction to most of these seminal American bands, you would do well to go down to your local used shop and trade in those Green Day and Offspring CD's for as many early Ramones and Dolls albums as you can. But if you must, this compilation is an inexpensive way to start.
