Various: Killed by Meth Volume 3 12"

Our take: Volume 3 of this compilation series highlighting bands from North America’s rust belt. Volume 3 is a tough volume for a compilation series. The first volume is new and exciting, the second volume makes you think “whoa, they did another one,” and then by the third volume that initial excitement has worn off. Fortunately, Killed by Meth has carved out a niche highlighting great unheard garage punk from their part of the world. As usual, some names will be familiar to Sorry State’s audience. Sorry State label alumni S.L.I.P. open with a brand new track of their trademark lurching, Black Flag-style punk. You may remember Cleveland’s Knowso from their LP on Neck Chop, and if you follow the Perverts Again universe, you’ll want to hear their track. Garage rockers will recognize Obnox, who delivers one of his trademark tracks that sounds like ultra-lo-fi garage but whose melody and rhythm are deceptively funky. From there, though, it’s uncharted waters for me. If I had to characterize the whole compilation, the dominant sound is the raw and primal (but not 60s retro) garage-punk sound I associate with Maximumrocknroll in the 90s. If you like the Destroy All Art compilations, these strike me as the kinds of bands collected there. As with any compilation, some tracks stick out. My favorite is from WLMRT, whose raw and chaotic synth-punk reminds me of the Deadbeats, but wilder and with a stronger sense of melody. As a whole, the comp balances variety and similarity, so it plays like a consistent album rather than a sampler platter. If this were the 90s, I could picture a sun-bleached CD sitting on my dashboard and getting played as I drive around trying to relieve my teenage boredom. This is 2018 so I don’t know how many people will do that, but Killed By Meth Vol 3 makes you feel like you could.