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Release date: February 2003
1. The Ritalins - Too Good For Me
2. Manges - Long Way Back (2.8
MB)
3. Zatopeks - Devil In A '55
4. The Battledykes - Leave Me Alone
5. The Flakes - She's So Natural
6. Travoltas - Oh Suzy
7. The Popsters - What If...
8. Sonic Dolls - The Teen Age
9. The Boonaraaas!!! - Turn Her Down
10. The Apers - It Just Takes Up All My Time
11. Retarded - You Gotta Go
12. The Grizzly Adams Band - She Sucked My Brain Out
13. The Waukees - Joey & Jude
14. The Stricklands - I Don't Wanna Be A Loser
15. 4Teen Killers - 4Teen
16. Backwood Creatures - I'm Alright!
17. The 20Belows - I Give Up
18. Stinking Polecats - Lonely Boy
19. Dirtshakes - City Of Tomorrow
20. Spoonster - Crack Up
21. The Coffin Kids - Everybody's Chickenin' Out
22. Shoplifters - Cheap Talk & Cheap Cigars
23. Andy's Donutz - Anything But Me
24. Snotty Cheekbones - Happy To Be A Loser
25. Spanky Darth Vaders - On The Radio
26. The Booba Fett Youth - Mom
27. The Barbecuties - (I Really Love My) Supersquishy Girl
28. 3 1/2 Inch Floppy - This Wouldn't Have Happened To Bob Dylan
More info about The Ritalins:
Homepage
More info about Manges:
Homepage
More info about Zatopeks:
Homepage
More info about The Battledykes:
Homepage
More info about The Flakes:
Homepage
More info about Travoltas:
Homepage
More info about The Popsters:
Homepage
More info about Sonic Dolls:
Presspage
Homepage
More info about The Boonaraaas!!!:
Homepage
More info about The Apers:
Presspage
Homepage
More info about Retarded:
Homepage
More info about The Grizzly Adams Band:
Homepage
More info about The Waukees:
Homepage
More info about The Stricklands:
Homepage
More info about 4Teen Killers:
Homepage
More info about Backwood Creatures:
Presspage
Homepage
More info about The 20Belows:
Homepage
More info about Stinking Polecats:
Homepage
More info about Dirtshakes:
Homepage
More info about Spoonster:
Homepage
More info about The Coffin Kids:
Homepage
More info about Shoplifters:
Homepage
More info about Andy's Donutz:
Homepage
More info about Snotty Cheekbones:
Homepage
More info about The Booba Fett Youth:
Homepage
More info
about The Barbecuties:
Homepage
Review:
Taken from
Supertash:
This is the second installment of the great Pop Punk Virus comp. CD's
that the Dutch label Stardumb Records has put out. Both the CD's feature
28 unreleased tracks by the top European punk rock bands. This CD has
tracks from repeat offenders like the RETARDED, APERS, BATTLEDYKES, DIRTSHAKES
and TRAVOLTAS while also featuring some new meat like the WAUKEES, RITALINS
and the BOONARAAS. The standout tracks on this CD all come from the above
mentioned bands plus a few more. The RITALINS from Scotland start the
comp off with their tune "Too Good For Me," which is a great
pop punk tune a la the HUNTINGTONS. The next good track is from England's
ZATOPEKS. They do a tune called "Devil In a '55" which has a
total 50's doo-wop throwback feel. They've got the little "shoo-wop"
backing vocals to help it along. It's definitely not the best on the CD,
but it's pretty good. Immediately following that tune is the return of
Germany's BATTLEDYKES, who had me rockin' to their "Backwoods Song"
on the last Pop Punk Virus. Their new tune is called "Leave Me Alone"
and is another strong rocker from this cool band. The next two songs of
note are from fellow German rockers, the SONIC DOLLS and the BOONARAAS!!!
The SONIC DOLLS crank in with a cool dirty rock n roll tune entitled "The
Teen Age" which will get you shakin' your booty and rocking out all
night long. The BOONARAAS!!! jump in as Germany's answer to the 5,6,7,8's
and SUPERSNAZZ. They've got a nice 50's/60's girl-group style with hard
to understand lyrics that make the American boys go nuts!! I love this
stuff! Can't wait to hear more from the BOONARAAS!!!
Next up are a couple of tunes from Stardumb Records vets, THE APERS and
the RETARDED. The APERS clock in with a great rock n roll tune "It
Just Takes Up All My Time" that is a bit more rockin' than their
past material. It seems a bit more riffy, which we will get into when
we review the APERS new full length CD. The RETARDED contribute a song
"You Gotta Go" which is actually not unreleased as the rest
of the songs on this comp are. The RETARDED cheated.... this song is also
included on their split CD with USA's HUNTINGTONS on Italy's Wynona Records.
Stefan and gang might have been unaware of this release when they were
compliling the Pop Punk Virus, though, so don't blame them. Anyways, it's
a great track that is a bit updated and more anthem-like than their previous
releases. This strays a bit from their RIVERDALES/RAMONES formula and
takes on a more RANCID feel. Good stuff nontheless! Another Italian band
making a splash is Pisa's WAUKEES and their hit "Joey & Jude."
This female-led trio bring us a cool, dirty and simple tune about nose-bleed
love with lines like "And all those things because he broker heart
ad nose" and "Since her nose bleeds for him, she hope to live
in a dream" and who could forget "She wouldn't think before
he could even crash her nose?" More great stuff from Italy to go
along with your PINK PANTHERS and PEAWEES records. Now jump up to Denmark
for the 20 BELOWS. Chances are you've already hear of these guys. I've
got their web site linked on the links page. They give us a tune that
could've been yanked straight off a BEATNIK TERMITES record with high
pitched vocals and a bad 80's drum mix. Cool pop punk prevails through
the bad sound engineering anyway! Now back to Germany (where most of the
good bands on this comp hail from) to catch up with the DIRTSHAKES who
gave us their boogie on the first volume. This time around they deliver
a lo-fi straight forward punk rock futuristic view of the world in "City
Of Tomorrow" while the COFFIN KIDS from the Netherlands take it back
to the 50's greaser style rock with their "Everybody's Chickenin'
Out" rocker. Germany's BOOBA FETT YOUH might not know how to spell
Star Wars characters right, but they've got the rock formula down! Their
super lo-fi 4-track sounding "Mom" is a definite solute to the
early QUEERS days when Wimpy and Tulu were still part of the gang! Finally,
3 1/2 INCH FLOPPY round out the CD with their odd number "This Wouldn't
Have Happened To Bob Dylan." When you get this CD as you all SHOULD!!!,
you'll think think that this last band seems a bit familiar.... well,
that's cause you saw most of them back at track 3 under the name of the
ZATOPEKS. On this tune, Will goes to vocals only, while the Giant moves
to guitar and is replaced by Davey Pin-Up on the bass. Jo Mangled jumps
in on vocals and trombone to give it that nice odd feel so you don't think
it's the same people. Over all this comp is awesome!!! and is as good
and maybe even better than Volume 1!! As long as they keep up the good
work over at Stardumb, you should be out buying their CD's and LP's!!!!
Get this comp and you will NOT be disappointed!! -Ronnie (Stardumb Records,
www.stardumbrecords.com)
Taken from I-94
Bar:
It's as obvious as a two-dollar wig on a bald man that Stardumb has quickly
risen to the top of the pop punk big rock candy mountain, European division,
with a series of albums from the likes of Backwood Creatures, The Apers,
Sonic Dolls, and the Groovie Ghoulies which are positively rippling with
axe-laced ear candy, heady harmonies, and crunchy, spirited production
- no small feat considering none of these merry marketing-age kids with
guitars, bass, drums and a dream are likely to carve out a big old hunk
of the MTV pie for themselves.
For "The European Poppunk Virus Vol. 2" (released nearly two
years after the first compendium), Stardumb conducted another continental
cattle call, found their mailbox flooded with responses, and picked 28
songs from 28 bands, all previously unreleased. Relatively speaking, this
one isn't quite up to usual Stardumb standards, but that's like saying
Ariel Bender ain't no Mick Ralphs. Given his track record, we should probably
forgive Stefan Stardumb's foibles since even God occasionally screws up
(how else to explain the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, light beer, or Joe Strummer's
early exit from the planet?). Immediately apparent is the huge shadow
the Ramones cast over this entire album from the music right down to the
often painfully contrived and cutesy stage names adopted by most of the
musos who appear here. "Too Good For Me" from Scotland's Ritalins
welds a slightly-accelerated opening salvo of drums straight out of "Rock
& Roll High School" with a Johnny-like chord sequence from "Do
You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?", throwing in handclaps and lead
vocals from Si Ritalin which are younger, louder, and snottier than even
those of the late Stiv Bators.
The least successful songs on this compilation are those that stray the
farthest from Stardumb's tried and true formula (not to be confused with
formulaic) of larger-than-life hooks puncuated with buzzing guitars, punchy
drums, and bratty vocals. England's Zatopeks' doo-woppish "Devil
In A '55," while not interminable, just seems out of place and in
dire need of an umbrella considering the shit storm of fizzy carbonation
raining down around it. Old-school power pop merchants Any Trouble once
tried to warn that "girls are always right" but somebody forgot
to tell Germany's Boonaraaas!!! (worthy of three exclamation points? -
hardly), The Waukees (Italy), and Spoonster (Scotland) whose frontwomen
all waste time chasing the ghosts of Debbie Harry, Lene Lovich, and Poly
Styrene. It's not that their
contributions are all that bad or even unwelcome, but I have some sort
of mental block (some would argue mental problem) that I just can't come
to grips with when it comes to chicks trying to resurrect the rock. There,
I've said it! Hate mail and demands for my head in a basket should be
addressed to The Barman.
Believe it or not, the intro to The Flakes' (Sweden) "She's So Natural"
sounds like something right out of the Iron Maiden canon before it blossoms
into a frothy chunk of pop fluff which wouldn't seem out of place as the
theme song to a 1970's Friday night sit-com. Call it a hunch, but I'd
be willing to bet Germany's Battledykes have a few Toy Dolls albums in
their collection and their "Leave Me Alone" is the kind of pop
workout Olga would be proud to claim as his own.
Elsewhere, Stardumb serves up two more flat-out great barnstormers from
what is suspiciously looking like a bottomless reserve on the parts of
The Apers and Backwood Creatures, both full of diamond-hard hooks and
a throbbing rhythmic pulse. As much as I'm prone to fawn over both groups,
they may well
have met their match in The Grizzly Adams Band from (everybody together
now!) Germany, whose "She Sucked My Brain Out" is over much
too soon at 1:37. Watch out for these guys. They have a new album due
out soon on the Chief label and if this song is any indicator, it's going
to brighten quite a few worlds. So is the fact that "The European
Poppunk Virus Vol. 2" is two beers shy of a six-pack a sign the apocalypse
is at hand or merely evidence that Stardumb is run by humans instead of
factory automatons preprogrammed to churn out sizzling, three-minute blasts
of heroic, swirling pop punk with hearts full of soul? Who cares? This
ain't rocket science and I say that's a beautifull thing. -- Clark Paull
Taken from
Fat City #6 - 2003
They may not have had our back in the war against Saddam Hussein, but
those crafty Europeans sure know their pop punk. Stardumb Records, undoubtedly
the best label outside of North America, does it again with The European
Poppunk Virus Volume 2. You'd think that 28 unreleased pop punk songs
by bands you've never heard of would get boring after a while but this
release manages to keep you hooked from start to finish. Bands with cool
names like The Grizzly Adams Band, The Battledykes and Spanky Darth Vaders
really have a handle on their three chord punk. -- Johnny Fatts
Dutch:
Taken from Festival
Info:
Het Nederlandse Stardumb opereert inmiddels wereldwijd en zet zich niet
alleen in voor de eigen Nederlandse bands (Apers) en bekende Amerikaanse
bands (Groovie Ghoulies), maar promoot ook door middel van toffe split
7 inch singles (Terrific Team Ups) allerlei andere Europese bands. Zoals
elk zichzelf respecterend groot punklabel schijnt te moeten doen brengt
ook Stardumb een aantrekkelijk geprijsde verzamelaar op de markt waarmee
je in een klap vele Stardumb (gerelateerde) bands kunt leren kennen. Op
The European Poppunk Virus (Volume 2) staan 28 tracks van 28 verschillende
bands. Sommige tracks vallen eigenlijk nauwelijks onder de noemer poppunk
te scharen, maar dat deert niet. Wat zodoende ontstaan is, is een lekker
afwisselend geheel van popdeuntjes, rock 'n' roll nummers en een folky
afsluiter. Hoogtepunten zijn o.a. de nummers van de Manges, The Flakes,
Travoltas, Backwood Creatures en de Dirtshakes. -- Jeroen Verdel
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