Customer Reviews

Give Em the Boot

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

(For those of you unfamiliar with the Give 'em the boot series, it is a sampler series of bands on the Hellcat Records label. The label has an eclectic mix of punk/hardcore bands and ska/reggae/dub bands)

Now that that's out of the way...

Here's the deal:

1. With the possible exception of Rancid and Choking Victim, the punk bands on Hellcat Records suck. It's boring, unoriginal, and not even that aggressive.
2. The ska/reggae/dub bands, however, are EXCELLENT and amazing. It's very mellow and relaxing, yet very exciting and catchy. It should have you dancing along in no time.
3. Of the 3 titles in the give 'em the boot series, the 1st one (this one) has the least punk and the most ska.
4. Therefore, this is the best Give 'em the boot by FAR and with its dirt cheap price, you have no excuse for not owning it if you consider yourself a fan of ska in any way, shape, or form.

This is just so amazing - the first sampler from Tim Armstrong and Epi-guru Brett Gurewitz's side-label, Hellcat. Featuring mainly ska and '77-style punk, you'll recognise Rancid, Voodoo Glow Skulls and Swingin Utters, all turning in fine songs, along with newer bands such as the Gadjits, an awesome Hammond-driven ska three-piece. Although Hellcat are distributed by Eptiaph, nothing here sounds like NOFX/Ten Foot Pole punk, so some may be a little disappointed (although for £4 you can't really complain). The are some awesome songs here from Hepcat (classic dancehall ska), the Pietasters (prime Northern Soul), utter legends the Skatalites, and the Slackers and Stubborn All-Stars very own David Hillard and his Rocksteady Seven, with the awesome 'Playtime'. The different styles on this album flow superbly, with the Utter's fantastic 'Fifteenth and T' flowing beautifully into the laidback ska of the Skatalites. Oh, just buy it.

If you wanna here some old time punk, ska, and reggae then buy Give 'em the boot. It has some popular bands giving it their best to please the fans! And hey, it's cheap too!

Tim and Brett have outdone themselves! I don't know how they did it but somehow they managed to round up the very best ska and punk bands out there for Hellcat Records (which has the same distribution as Epitaph so hopefully some of these deserving bands will start getting some international credit!) I don't like every song but I like the majority of them, which in and of itself is really rare for me - I usually don't like compilations at all. More importantly, some of these songs absolutely rock. Hepcat have got the sweet trad ska sound down pat; classic oi-sters The Business and Boston pub-punks Dropkick Murphys (I love that name) make fast and explosive contributions; Rancid of course gets things off to a spectacular beginning with the bleak but booming The Brothels. Also check out The Gadgits and the Swingin' Utters for some quality music that makes all that lame recycled alterna-pop-rock Matchbox 20 junk on the radio sound like the sewage that it is. Forget the punk-revival, forget the ska-revival, forget the music industry's fickle trends - this is where the music industry *should* be at, even if they're too stupid to realize it!

And at a mere 6 bucks.... you just don't have any excuse for not owning this.

This album and it's brethren are an excellent way to be introduced to a lot of cool bands. I've gone out and bought a number of albums based on what I heard here and on Vol. II + III. If you like punk and ska with a dash of psychobilly, then this is your teaser!

This comp is essential for any punker. It's from Tim Armstrong's new label HellCat Records. Tim brought together the best of todays Punk, Ska, and Oi! The great thing about this album that it not only contains new artists like Choking Victim, Dropkick Murphys and U.S. Bombs but greats like the Business, The Skatalites, and Rancid. Buy it! Buy it NOW!!!

Although a few songs bugged me (especially Voodoo Glow Skulls who I can't stand), over all this is an incredible collection of music. The Ska songs are traditional in flavor, mostly, and the punk and Oi! songs stand out among the best. It was a great introdution for me to some incredible band that I had never heard. If your interested in Punk and Trad-Ska or Oi!, definately get this comp.

As we all know that Hellcat records is owned and runned by Lars from Rancid. Well being a punk, I know that right now, all that is considered 'punk' is either A)This main-stream crap which sucks badly or B)All these emo and hardcore/metal bands appearing in the underground right now. So being a dude waiting for some new punk band to change everything in the punk genre...they havent made it.
So for these past few weeks I have been I've been looking over some ska-punk and punk-ska bands. So I thought, I'll look into real ska bands....let me tell there are literally thousands of them out there waiting for some dude/dudette to be favored by. I had no clue where to start on picking out albums to buy. So most people look into comps for samples. And then I came across this little prize of joy.
Give 'Em The Boot Vol. 1 is probably the best ska comp that includes awesome punk bands too. Though the first track by Rancid wasn't their best. When the Slackers came on with 'Watch This' I felt so relaxed. When Hepcat's 'Dont Wait' came on I was already singing along. By the time The Pietasters 'New Breed' was playing I was up dancing. I won't list the other bands and songs, but most punks and people only hear about bands like Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Operation Ivy, and The Suicide Machines. Though, those bands are considered to be the only good ones, screw you! There are tons better ones. Plus, all those bands have sold out or lost almost all the orginal members.
But over-all kids, stop listeing to the things considered punk(as in sell-outs or emo/hardcore bands)get your soul out there and be a rude boy. So if wanna get to know good ska bands buy this CHEAP cd!

Wow! Bought this album just two weeks ago, and its stayed in my cd tray! I'd already been listening to several bands put out on the Hellcat label (U.S..Bombs, Dropkick Murphys, Rancid) so I figured this would let me in on a few more Hellcat bands. Hellcat has quickly become my music label of choice. They're putting out the very best in punk and ska of anyone- none of that mass-market user-friendly pop-punk junk you hear so much of today! If you want to hear real punk rock n' roll, better get ya' some Hellcat albums fast!

This whole cd, from start to finish, really whooped me all over the shop. Some of the tracks on it truly were amazing, if you want punk, you got it, if you want ska, you got it and if you want the best, by Rancid.