The Centre of the Universe, Book II
Various Artists
Owned And Operated
Made to appear dark and sinister, The Centre of the Universe, Book II is really a punk/indie rock collection of various bands that had songs recorded live at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado. To me, it’s a pretty bad collection of useless noise, for the most part, but somehow, I hope that I’m just missing the point. It doesn’t move me or make me want to explore more work done by the artists, but for the sake of those who would like this sort of thing, it is a fairly well rounded collection. The only two songs I really wanted to listen to for their entire duration (and surprisingly, went back and listened to again) were “Grey Suits” by Armchair Martian and “Jessica’s Suicide” by Bad Astronaut. What set these two apart is that they have lyrics that make sense beyond screaming and sound more like the more thoughtful music I prefer. A few other notable names are Janis Figure (who have a very •80s punk sound), Pavers, Shiner, and ALL. An interesting collection of some interesting artists; this is the kind of CD one should buy only if they are familiar with and like the bands on it.
Owned And Operated Recordings, PO Box 36, Fort Collins, CO 80522; http://www.oandorecords.com
