Judge Not
(Underdogma)
by Brian Varney
Dollars for donuts, this is probably the best stoner rock compilation available. For $12.99, you get 28 tracks spread over two CDs (plus a pretty-funny phone message tacked onto the end). I haven’t heard of a lot of these bands and I’m supposed to be an expert on this stuff, so chances are most of these bands will be new to you.
I’m generally not a fan of such compilations. Bands don’t usually want to lose a good song to a compilation, so they don’t always submit a song that’s representative, let alone good. Also, I prefer albums. One song isn’t usually enough for me to get a feeling for what a band’s trying to do. Maybe I’m just slow, but I need at least two to three songs before I can tell if I like a band.
I won’t lie and tell you that I like every song on here. You probably won’t, either. But that’s not the point of such a compilation. The point is to present a variety of bands and styles, to let you experience as much as possible in order to lead you to bands you might not have otherwise found. And, on these terms, Judge Not does just fine. Other bands included: The Quill, Bozeman’s Simplex, Calamus, Ironboss, Gammera, Volume, Plaster, Pale Divine, Zerocharisma, Traumatic, Syrup, Buzzard, Mustasch, Smoke in Sunshine, The Satellite Circle, Bongwater666, Half Man, and Doubleneck.
(PO Box 5070 Fredericksburg, VA 22403)