Good old Epitaph. Whereas most punk labels seem to view every new release as an opportunity to further a narrow, subgenre-specific vision of what "punk" means (see
Vagrant, Victory, or
Bridge Nine for examples),
Punkorama 10 shows that Brett Gurewitz and his label have made an impressive attempt to assemble a stable of artists who'll never be pigeonholed into one easily-defined category. Artists as diverse as alt-rappers Sage Francis and Atmosphere, pop-punkers NOFX, psychobilly act Tiger Army and bluesy rockers the Black Keys call Epitaph home, and with the exception of the Black Keys (who only appear on the accompanying DVD), they're all included here.
Admittedly, when all of these artists are put together on one album, it makes for a less-than-cohesive listening experience. Near the disc's beginning, for example, hardcore (From First To Last's "Failure By Designer Jeans") is followed by rap ("Sun Vs. Moon", from Francis), which in turn gives way to Bad Religion. Similarly, listeners may be put off by the juxtaposition of Youth Group's pretty-sounding pop, Dropkick Murphys's Celtic kick, and straight-up hip-hop from Dangerdoom (a collaboration by Danger Mouse and MF Doom).
You get the feeling, though, that Epitaph couldn't care less about whether two bands are stylistically compatible. As Punkorama 10 demonstrates, they've built up a roster that can't easily be summarized or labeled. For anyone whose tastes run beyond such simple categorization -- which means, we hope, everyone reading this review -- that's great news.
