Various - Plea For Peace/ Take Action Vol 2

  by Anastasia Grabov

published: 13 / 2 / 2003

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Review

A generous 32 track offering from Sub City Records, featuring a fine selection of punk anthems, aggressive heavy metal, and also melodic indie tracks. Despite the mixture, the tracks flow naturally. Almost grouped together in their distinctive genres, the tension is heightened, and then released in a smooth continuous wave spanning two CDs. Anti-Flag provide the perfect opening track, '911 For Peace', for a compilation that will donate a portion of the proceeds to The National Hopeline Network (1-800-SUICIDE). The punk-pop interval is short but sweet and what follows is a rousing and angst-ridden collection of emo and metal tracks introduced by Finch's 'What It Is To Burn.' Think extended vowels with a background of echoes and addictive guitar riffs. The tracks, however, slowly descend into the darker, teeth baring world of the stop-start pattern and incomprehensible lyrics. God Forbid is the most distinctive group among these, and although they may seem unremarkable, annoying even, they are apparently quite popular. The image of 14 year old boys clad in Slipknot hoodies and 'masculine' make-up spring to mind, but a lot of us have been there so I won't go any further. The rest of CD 1 sees the welcome re-emergence of heart-felt melodies. Hiding just beneath the surface of Noise Ratchet's 'Permanent Solution' are the Jimmy Eat World influences that seep through a number of the tracks. With CD 2 the compilation changes its tone, discarding the heavy metal influences in favour of energetic punk-pop disguised as melodic hardcore. It is perhaps the finer of the two CDs. Taking Back Sunday sets the pace with the brilliant 'Cute Without The E' which catchily combines emotionally charged, fast-paced vocals and a steady backbeat.  It seems that the term 'punk music' accounts for a huge variety of styles, and 'Plea For Peace' demonstrates this better than most ''punk' compilations. Not even the female touch is ignored, with the inclusion of Tsunami Bomb's Agent M's strong (but still feminine) vocals on 'El Diablo.' Few women seem to play a prominent role in the punk rock scene, but her confidence and charisma shine through in this powerful track. Included in this selection are also a few playfully sweet tracks. The influence of Blink 182 and Green Day are obvious in both The Amazing Transparent Man's 'The Ocean Is A Fuck Of A Long Way To Swim' and Ultimate Fakebook's 'When I'm With You, I'm OK.' This addition of love-sick sticky sentimentality eases the compilation into an intense selection of slower tracks. Mike Park's acoustic 'Give Up Everything' creates an ''end-of-day' atmosphere, which is somewhat peaceful and reflective. With a refreshing variety of moods and a large selection of previously unreleased material, this compilation left me feeling satisfied and complete in the sense that I felt I'd just expressed myself fully in the space of two hours. This is definitely one to put on repeat.    

Track Listing:-

1 Jesse Michaels– Public Service Announcement
2 Anti-Flag– 911 For Peace
3 Common Rider– Longshot
4 The Lawrence Arms– Right As Rain (Part 2)
5 Finch – What It Is To Burn (Demo Version)
6 The Beautiful Mistake– A Safe Place
7 Poison The Well– Botchla
8 Avenged Sevenfold– Turn The Other Way
9 Snapcase– Coagulate (Alternate)
10 God Forbid– Mind Eraser
11 Curlupandie*– Ted Nugent Goes AOL
12 Open Hand– The Dream
13 Cave In– Devil's Head Pinata
14 Noise Ratchet– Permanent Solution
15 Recover– Rodeo
16 Shadows Fall– Stepping Outside The Circle
17 Eighteen Visions– You Broke Like Glass
18 Taking Back Sunday– Cute Without The E (Cut From The Team)
19 Yellowcard– Power
20 Audio Karate– The End Won't Justify The Means
21 The Movielife– Up To Me
22 August Premier– Tuckered Out
23 Digger (2)– Gemini
24 The Plus Ones– All The Boys
25 Amazing Transparent Man– The Ocean Is A Fuck Of A Long Way To Swim
26 Tsunami Bomb– El Diablo
27 The Deal (3)– The Attack
28 Dillinger Four– Noble Stabbings II
29 Piebald– American Hearts
30 Ultimate Fakebook– When I'm With You, I'm OK
31 Bad Astronaut– If I Had A Son
32 Moneen– The Start To This May Be The End To Another
33 Mike Park– Give Up Everything