Release Date: 18/4/11

Released On:   Year Zero

There's something about compilation albums that irks me. It's probably because of Now That's What I Call Music! being a yearly Christmas present from a nan who still thought she was 'with it' but clearly wasn't, because she always bought them on tape. Even though one year I got a Discman for Christmas, there it'd be, the small square double cassette box, nestled next to the obvious Chocolate Orange. Now 29 was a particular favourite, especially Tape 1 Side 2, which had the likes of Oasis, R.E.M. Louis Armstrong and The Cranberries. Side 1 had Pato Banton and Whigfield.  Enough said.

But what’s this? A compilation album entitled Kris Needs Presents: Dirty Water 2 - More Birth Of Punk Attitude? That sounds more like it! The follow up to – yes, you guessed it, Dirty Water 1 – contains a wide international selection of proto-punk, garage bands and seminal figures who were responsible for the punk explosion. Kris Needs is a journalist and author who has written biographies for the likes of Keith Richards and Joe Strummer, and if he were to go on Mastermind, this kind of music would be his specialist subject.

So who appears on this melange of monster mashers, 39 tracks of titillating twangery? We start with Captain Beefheart, who passed away whilst this was being compiled, and the wonderful blues romp of Zigzag Warrior. It’s the perfect appetiser, and consider my bouche well and truly amused. Among the other more well known artists are The Velvet Underground with I’m Waiting For The Man (a live version with a particularly chatty Lou Reed), Patti Smith and the fantastic piano supernova Piss Factory (always loved that title), David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust with Suffragette City, George Clinton’s Parliament (anyone remember when you could play as him on NBA Jam?), and many others that you will read the tracklist and give more than a passing nod to.

But the real treasures on this compilation are those obscure, never-heard-of bands who somehow manage to blow you away, and merit their place among such lofty names. The Human Expression and the garage/surf rock of Love At Psychadelic Velocity veers from blissful echoic vocals to a breakneck frenzy, leaving you utterly breathless by the end. Transsexual Jayne County (formerly Wayne County) leaves an impression with the self aware title Man Enough To Be A Woman, with lyrics and guitar solos that have to be heard. Detroit garage bands The Unrelated Segments and The Tidal Waves are also revelations, with the former being standouts. The album is rounded off with Kris’s own band The Vice Creems and Danger Love, which screams of self promotion, but its place is deserved through being pretty nifty.

So does it work as a compilation? You have to say yes, for the most part. For fans of punk and punk history, it’s a really interesting union. The two CDs also come with a 76 page book in which Needs explains his reasoning behind the tracks included. Out of the 39 tracks included there’s always going to be one or two that either don’t seem to fit or just don’t tickle your fancy but in this case it’s literally just one or two, and the end result is very satisfying indeed.

9/10

Posted In Album Reviews, May 01 2011. Words - Paul