For a Fistful of Yens!

(Century Media)
by Troy D.

So it’s punk you want, but the high price of vintage collector vinyl has got you down? Century Media has saved the fuckin’ day with their compilation For a Fistful of Yens. 30 songs 20 bands one low price.

I guess 30 punk songs is about equivalent of three rounds of “Freebird,” so fitting all this on one disc required no magic. If you missed the whole late ’70s hardcore thing, it’s time for a history lesson.

Featuring the best of some old and new bands from the European Blitzcore label, this CD is jammed with punk rock testosterone. Do you remember Attitude Adjustment, whose drummer is now with Machine Head? How about Black Market Baby from DC? I do. I also remember getting the piss kicked out of me at one of their shows. Tracks eight and nine were recorded more recently (I think) and really make you want to dye your hair orange. They’re from a band called Apartment 3G and feature full throttle, bone crushing speed riffs, with angrier-than-thou vocals. At first, the idea of mixing old and new bands struck me as a cheap way of pushing new talent, but after listening to the disc, I didn’t sense any discontinuity. In fact, for a comp, this CD flows incredibly well. With bands like Green Day re-popularizing this old sound, it’s nice to hear some more potent, less produced originals.

This ain’t no Freedom Rock comp, so keep your Gap tie dye shirts away or get a Doc in the ass!