I might be the worst person to review this… I think Guttermouth sucks, & I could never get into bands like No Use For A Name, Strung Out, Unwritten Law, Pennywise, or 88 Fingers Louie. Just throwing that out there so you know where I am coming from… Even with my bias against "Melodic Hardcore" I have to admit, I was very pleased when I heard the first song Dead On Arrival, & I continued to enjoy the album until I got to the fifth song Get Help!. You got to give them props for trying to vary shit, but I am from the school of thought of, 'don’t mess with success'. Get Help! Is Guilty By Association’s "Hardcore" song, which tackles the issue of wanting to commit suicide. I found this song a bit dumb, but it is only 43 seconds long, so it is over before you know it. Luckily by the sixth song GBA returns with Another Day, which is one of my favorite songs on the album. Sadly, this is followed by the worst song on the album, Music Doesn’t Have To Suck. Fuck, I hate this song! I haven’t decided if the lyrics sound like one of my old coworkers belly aching about modern music, or a dumb 16 year old trying to be shocking to only come off sounding like an asshole ... "Justin Bieber suck my dick! Beyonce licks Jay-Z’s balls! These worthless hacks, no talent at all." Oh well, this review isn’t being written for Punks in Vegas, so I can share these thoughts.

When I flipped this LP over I found the second side to be more solid, & I especially appreciated the cover of the Billy Joel tune It’s Still Rock n Roll To Me. As I listened to the songs I couldn’t help but think that these guys would have been huge in the mid 90’s. People who went to the Huntridge & saw Pennywise opening up for Bad Religion would have eaten this shit up. If you like that whole Epitaph / Fat Wreck Chords sound of the 90’s, then this is a safe bet for you!

CD's available to purchase from Squid Hat Records by clicking here. I don't think it's available on vinyl anymore but you can ask. Ask about the digital download as well. ;-) The CD is also available from the band at every single gig they play, and that's a lot, because they play all the time. "Like" Guilty By Association on Facebook by clicking here.

I love compilations. They're a cheap and easy way to check out some new fresh music, usually from an amalgamation of various countries and cities, and usually of varying degrees of musical excellence. Compilations are a hit or miss venture, more the latter than the former, but when it hits, it's always a treat to hear a song that rocks your world, being played by some band you've never heard of before. That's the magic of compilations. That's why I dig 'em.

This compilation was given to me after a gig at Kactus Kate's in Cottonwood, AZ by one of the bands who played that night, Common Tongue, who are a great band that I encourage you all to check out. I was asking around their merch table if they had any music on CD for sale, and they said that they didn't, but that they had this compilation that they were supposed to be on, but that they weren't on, but that their friends band was on, and they said that I could have that for free if I was interested in checking out some new music. I forget what band they said were their friends on the compilation, but I thought that was a damn cool thing for them to do, promote a compilation that they weren't even on and promote their friends band. Cool stuff. I thanked them for the gift, threw it into my purse, and forgot about it until I was cleaning out said  purse out a few weeks later. Holy crap! I thought to myself. I had forgotten all about the thing and was feeling kind of silly, so I popped it into the CD player to give it a spin and see what popped off at me. First off, you gotta love any compilation that has Randy Quaid's memorable character from Christmas Vacation, Cousin Eddie, on the cover. Back in the days, when I used to buy records just based on the cover artwork only, I definitely would of grabbed this one without hesitation. And as for the music, well, it's mostly Fat Wreck Chords circa 1999 sounding Punk Rock, with lots of Propaghandi, Lag Wagon and NOFX sounding tunes, with a few Beardcore songs thrown in for good measure because, well, because kids are stupid with beards and they listen to that shit. Yuck. Nothing really jumped off of here at me musically, although the 2 songs that did, Strike Twelve's song Toilet (love the vocal harmonies on that one), and When I'm Alone by The Psychic Alliance, only did so because they didn't sound like every other song on here. Originality always triumphs.

Yeah, this isn't the best compilation I've ever heard, but it's far from the worst either. The songs on here are good I guess, upcoming bands and all, but they're just not my cup of tea. Still, as far as free new music goes, you could do a lot worse than this comp. I mean it's free, it's new, it's fresh music, what more do you want? Click here and get this compilation - brought to you by Dagger Sight Records - for absolutely mother fucking free. And if you like it, make sure to thank them for it. Oh, did I mention that it's absolutely FREE? OK, just making sure to stress that point. ;-)

Available from Dagger Sight Records, which you can go to by clicking here. "Like" Dagger Sight Records on Facebook by clicking here. If your band is interested in being on the next Dagger Sight Records compilation, contact the label here and let them know!