(c)1999 BYO Records
[rating:3/5]
I love listening to comps. I hate reviewing comps. There are just too many aspects going on at once. Do I pass judgement on the music as a whole or the individual artists or the generation as a whole? It’s hard to say. This comp Brought to you by BYO and Artcor Fanzine is “Greetings From The Welfare State” and no their not talking about Arkansas. This is the Best of British Punk going on now. Sure they may have a tiny little island, but they get the evil dreary weather that fuels their angst and misery. I should know I’m in Portland, OR (misery central) Whatever, If you’re looking to cross some international waters to pick up on some stuff the kids down the street arn’t into yet, go grab this comp and find some culture in the punks from the UK. Highlights for me include Goober Patrol, Newton Grunts and Four Letter Word. Later I’m Out…
–Jerry Actually
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Put on your boots and show us your favorite new tattoos boys and girls, this live plus one CD kicks serious ass. The more I listen to it, the more I want to listen to it. These are good old-fashioned punk rock anthems as they were meant to be. I’ve never seen them live, but I’m pretty sure that I would leave with at least one major injury. Every song made me want to drink beer and shout along with the rest of the crowd. Tracks 1, 2, 6, and 7 are now permanently in my head for the duration of time. Fast and furious boot stompin’ pleasure for the whole family (or at least a good portion of it.) This CD would be a worthy addition to anyone’s CD collection. The only thing that could make this CD better is if it was personally delivered to your door with a twelve-pack of cheap beer…..oh yeah, and more guitar solos (ummm…..sure.) 
I don’t know what to say except that perhaps the title of this new NOFX release is far to aptly correct. “The Decline” leaves me a little underwhelmed and a little disappointed. The comedic yet poignant NOFX that I once knew is gone for the moment. I’m not going to give up on them (’cause I didn’t like “Heavy Petting Zoo” either) but here’s the deal a little less art boys and a lot more rock. the CD starts out well enough for the first couple (or what I assume to be) tracks and then it drops right out. I know there are some die hard NOFX fans out there that are gonna be pissed reading this, but then again they’re probably 15. Another thing is that this CD is very politically charged, not this this bothers me, but again it is a departure from what I’ve grown to enjoy from NOFX. I guess it’s good to vent, but get on with it and get back to the good times I have grown to love/loathe.
I get so innundated with punk rock music that sounds exactly like punk rock music sounds. It becomes very difficult to descern one band fron the next. They have to have something that stands out from the crowd, or they have to be really rockin’ when I’m drunk. Sweden’s Bombshell rocks are a slightly better than average punk band. don’t get me wrong I’m not being harsh. I like the CD. I’d play it for my friends in casual settings, and I’d bring it along on road trips if I had the room, butt… Heres how it is though, it’s like bottled water. There are umpteen bazillion brands of bottled water and each and everyone is wet and watery and just about the same. So anyway if you like punk rock in the style of mid career Rancid, Swinging Utters, Humpers etc… Get this CD. If that aint your bag, keep away. 
Swingin’ Utters is a damn good band. Youth Brigade is still a damn good band. Both of them together on one CD?? Stop, you say. It can’t be so. Ah, but it is true. This spit series CD is a fucking cool idea. This is the first time that I, personally, have run across one of these (that’s not saying a whole hell of a lot.) Anyway, for those of you who have never heard of these bands, Go BUY IT NOW!!! This is not necessarily 100% hardcore, but a little Oi, a little traditional, a little hard-core, and a little (oh shit!) pop. Could you really ask for more? Guaranteed you will find at least 4 songs that you will play again. My personal favorites, not that you give a stinky hippie, are Haven’t Seen Yourself In Years (Swinging Utters) and Let them Know (Youth Brigade.)
Well, I can’t honestly say that I’m giving this CD a fair and honest review, but I’ll do my best. I actually only got to listen to the thing one time through before I had to go out of town, while which Mrs. Upstarter promptly removed the CD from the changer and as of now it is MIA. What I did gather from the listen that I got is that “Dirty Sanchez” is a bit better than the previously released “Kicked In The Teeth” Zeke has lost a little bit of that Kiss feel (not all of it, just some) and overall the songs rock pretty well. The mystery/bonus track is pretty damn funny for those of us that are old enough to remember. anyway I gave this disc a three out of a possible five on the !upstarter “UP” rating scale perhaps fair, perhaps not. At any rate not bad for a bunch of Seattle post grunge boys.
Remember that one time when Hank III and the Butthole Surfers got in a fist fight in a Southern Babtist churh over who was going to get drunk and repent the most and the good preacher tried to set ’em all right or send ’em right to Hell? Neither do I, but Let The Sin Begin is something what like that might sound like. Scruffy growl and cow punk. Prostelitizing while carousing. Them Damn Young Livers muster up 15 rabblerousing songs to help you demoralize your previously chaste life. Kansas City’s Freight train cow punk for the young and drunk.
Where the heck were these guys when I lived in Portland? Not around I guess. I wish I would have would have been in town though. They sound like a hella good band. Folksy and punky with songs of sailing the seas and the drinking of beer. They swagger like Swingin’ Utters and The Pogues and rock out with less melodrama than most of the rain-addled cock-n-roll of many Portland bands. Cloudy Skies contains 12.5 tracks of the aforementioned variety of rock and it does not dissapoint. If you like the drinking and the singalongs and music that may make you want to steal a boat, then this one is for you. There’s more to it of course, but the jist of it is good time rock and roll. Enjoy!