Last Beat Records 2001
Various Artists
Last Beat
From the relatively obscure label comes this mixed bag of tunes, charting much of the musical landscape from punk to folk rock. But like bullets on Superman, most of these numbers carry little effect to linger in the recesses of my audio consciousness. Astrogin’s “Time Ticks” is pure sunny schmaltz for the karaoke-loving set, while Gryn’s pseudo-Pantera tune “Human Warfare” stumbles on its generic title alone.
One significant pitfall of Last Beat’s compilation is that they installed four demo songs on the record, which could prove fatal if the songs were not up to par. Luckily, the Cake-lite “Gotta Go” by Chao proves catchy, if only for the first minute. Kudos for promoting diversity, but in this case, the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. If this is the last beat, it’s time to turn my attention to film.
Last Beat Records, 2819 Commerce St., Dallas, TX 75226; http://www.lastbeat.com
