Compilations are a gamble for listeners. Will there be one good song and a shitload of filler? Will there even be one good song?
These questions are null and void when talking about Black Cactus Records’ first comp. There are plenty of good songs. You will want to buy it and keep it.
I am, admittedly, a little late to the party. The comp was released months ago at the collective’s launch party. But this music is well worth commenting on, even if it has been 80 years in internet time.
This sampler is a juggernaut. First of all, there are the songs from The Necronauts and Tremulants, two bands I already knew were awesome, and show that they’re bringing their talent and rock and roll ferocity to Black Cactus.
To me, those two bands are the foundation for the compilation album. The players that can always be counted on to make clutch baskets.
My biggest surprise on the compilation was Lisa Savidge. I knew these guys had talent, but it rarely shined through on their first album. But with the skittering guitars of “Fire Exiting” and the genre-bending stunner “Appalachacha (Pts. 1 &2),” the band shows that some lineup changes and an expansion of their sound have paid great dividends.
I like the songs from Former Friends of Young Americans, especially the piano-pop stomper “You Said You Would.” This band is, in my mind, the wild card. Their two songs here are quite different (“Invincible” starts with a dirge-ish harmony). I like what I’ve heard, but I want to hear more before I give them a definitive thumbs-up.
My favorite track comes from The Premiere. I had heard the band mentioned before, but had never heard them. What I find is that they write songs reminiscent of early N.E.R.D. back before they…oh, hell, I don’t know what happened to them. But once upon a time they wrote amazing hip-hop/rock amalgams, worthy of booty-dancing on even the hottest summer days. “50 Inch Rims” was my summer jam. Of all the great songs here, this was the one that I couldn’t get out of my head.
Guess what? I just mentioned every band on the comp. I have nothing but positive things to say about any of them. The Black Cactus roster is formidable and their releases (past, present, and future) are not to be missed.
