Violent World

A Tribute To the Misfits (Caroline)
by Joshua Brown

Since even Metallica, in their non-commercial heyday, had trouble recreating the ghoulish vibe of the Misfits on their Garage Days Re-Revisited EP, this compilation has its work cut out for it. The bands rallied to pay their respects to the brothers of the skull are all part of the supposed “cream of the crop” of today’s punk rock, with the exception of Therapy? and Prong. For the most part, they sound as though they’re fumbling all over themselves trying to appear worthy. The main problem is that all the singers are batting in the Little League of vocals, whereas Major League Misfits singer Glenn Danzig sometimes moonlighted as an opera singer. In a few cases this contrast in vocal styles is engaging and exciting, such as NOFX‘s nicely sardonic, ska-inflected cover of “Last Caress,” the Sick of it All version of “All Hell Breaks Loose,” and Pennywise‘s pop punk rendering of “Astro Zombies” (which, incidentally, is one of the best songs they’ve ever done). The best Glenn Danzig impersonation is performed by Farside‘s singer, and their non-grainy production sheds an interesting light on the classic (though aren’t they all?) Misfits tune “Return of the Fly.” The most annoying aspect of Violent World are the covers which are done in styles which are irrelevant to the subject matter, such as emo and “sensitive guy” pop punk. Emo covers of the Misfits ought to be outlawed.