If you’ve ever bought a CD by a Sub City Records artist, then you have indirectly donated to charity. Sub City, an imprint of Hopeless Records, donates 5% of the proceeds from their CD sales to an organization of the artist’s choice. It’s pretty cool that a label encourages giving back to the communities their artists tour in, but that’s not the only way Hopeless/Sub City Records betters the world.
In 1999, Hopeless Records created the Take Action organization to encourage young activists. The Take Action name is probably familiar to you, because the organization spawned a tour of the same name, which is in its 7th year. Every year Hopeless releases a compilation to go with the tour, and this year’s profits from the comp. will go to the Do Something organization, which helps fund youth activists who are trying to make a change in their communities.
This year is no exception: although I have some minor issues with a few of the songs (we’ll get to that later), overall the compilation is ace, and you can’t beat the bonus DVD filled with 20 awesome videos by bands like Motion City Soundtrack, The Plain White Ts, The All American Rejects, and All Time Low.
Take Action: Volume 7 starts off with a quick PSA by Andy Williams of Every Time I Die about, well, taking action, and then launches straight in with his band’s song “We’re Wolf.” Personally, I usually avoid ETID because I am not into metal-y music; however, this track really lets ETID shine with a rousing chorus that would inspire a sing-along by anybody, anywhere, anytime.
Another surprise standout was “They’ll Never Get Me (Word With You)” by Drop Dead, Gorgeous. What I’d heard about Drop Dead, Gorgeous was kind of sketchy, but I loved this song. It’s kind of all over the place, somewhat sloppy, and it sounds as though the singer is having a nervous breakdown; oddly, this is exactly what makes the song so fun. It actually sounds like there’s some emotion behind the music, and the messiness of it all reminds me of chaotic punk.
Obvious standout tracks include Motion City Soundtrack’s “This Is For Real,” “Their City” by The Matches, “Digital Sea” by Thrice, and All Time Low’s “Dear Maria, Count Me In.” I was pleased to see Chiodos’ “Teeth The Size Of Piano Keys” on the compilation, but I think it would be to their advantage to pick a more melodic, calmer song. Screaming has been a central part of Chiodos’ music, yet I can’t help but think that Chiodos are so much better when they go for a softer sound.
I know I will lose a ton of “scene points” for saying this, but I was also pleased to see “Newport Living” by Cute Is What We Aim For on the comp. Although I don’t recommend seeing them live (the band is tight, but Shaant’s vocals are not often up to par and the crowd is overrun by the most annoying of the annoying Fueled By Ramen teenyboppers), I thought Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch was a fantastic CD. Their name, and aforementioned live vocal issues and audience, tends to give Cute... a bad rep, but I often wonder what scenesters would think if they listened to Same Old... without knowing who the band was.
But this compilation isn’t all rainbows and roses. It’s easy to bash songs and there is almost always something positive in music, but From First To Last’s “Two As One” is pretty awful. I’ve never been a big From First To Last (FFTL) fan, but I did enjoy a few songs here and there. “Two As One” is a half-baked, uninteresting, pop-punk song with a few screams here and there that sound like they were added in as afterthoughts. There’s a lot you can say about Sonny, but FFTL let Sonny’s vocals define them too much, and they’re now paying the consequence of losing their signature sound. The new vocals don’t sound very polished and the whole song just comes off as fairly boring and contrived.
Meg and Dia were a bit disappointing to me as well. They aren’t the most engaging live band, but they put on a pretty good show, and I am a big fan of female vocalists. However, their song “Roses” has great song potential, but it just never gets there. It’s not in the same category as the FFTL song, because the truth is, it’s a fine song. It’s just the difference between a fine song and a great song is bigger than most people think. I kept expecting “Roses” to build into an epic chorus that would make the song a sing-along thriller, but it kept on its slow, plodding path, and just left me wanting so much more.
All in all, Take Action: Volume 7 is on par with most every scene compilation on the market today: there are some amazing songs, some boring but not bad songs, and a couple terrible ones. I recommend buying Take Action: Volume 7, because it does have some absolutely awesome songs. It would just be nice to find a compilation where I didn’t skip any songs, if only once.
