Audio By Carbonatix
All backward-gazing compilations are exercises in nostalgia to some
degree — but the best of the breed eschew sentimentality in favor
of a more clear-eyed brand of affection. Exhibit A: Rocky Mountain
Low, which captures the vitality, humor and exuberance of a punk
and post-punk scene that flourished in the shadows. Viewed objectively,
songs such as Dancing Assholes’ “I Wanna Kill the President” aren’t
very good, and numbers by Front (featuring future Tommy Boy exec Steve
Knutson) and Immortal Nightflames (co-starring blues axman Eddie
Turner) hardly qualify as original. Yet like the strongest material
here, including Cells’ “Don’t Change Your Mind” and Corvairs’ “TV”
(with its tribute to The Munsters), they contribute to an
irresistible portrait of a period marked equally by alienation and
naïveté.
