I'd hate to think what the first one must have been like…

So here they are, back for another round, many of TKO's best of the best, in or out of the ring, either within their own ranks or under the guidance of another, they're toned and trained and ready to rumble!

We've got 25 bands here that'll leave ya floored before you've had a chance to raise your gloves up… and how's this for a welcome greeting?

As soon as you open the CD case, you get an eyeful of this life-sized middle finger straight in your face!

All right that does it… let's get to it already!

Reducers S.F. blasts through with a couple of quick rights and… not to mention a couple of wrongs, with "Our Noise" and damned if I'll argue with 'em.

Great party tune, one that you'll want to sing along with again and again… while you're searching for a reason.

Dropkick Murphy's, probably the elite of the late wave of punk pushers and their monstrous "Soundtrack to a Killng Spree," completely unlike any song I might've ever heard them do… and in a matter of seconds it's on you and left with no time to react, you just stand there and take it-only you'll be glad to do it again and again.

"Keep the Corpses Quiet" is the next one compliments of The Forgotten, a newer arrival to the card and one that's definitely not going to be as their name says anytime soon-another quick tempoed and ill-tempered flurry in the vein of yesterday's back alley battalions!

TKO's assembled a fearsome roster of prime punk and OI talents in the finest tradition of English pub style rock and rage and Northern Californian charm school graduates-The Beltones, Those Unknown, Loose Lips (and who can forget that cover!), The Bodies… plus many-too many-more to even try to present in my quickly intoxicating state-amazing but true, without even moving a finger toward the fridge, already I'm losing control of my extremities!

This will do that to you though, so take heed, those among us even of sound mind, this is not just any old sampler that features the same six bands regurgitating old tracks from their four year old records, everything here's pretty current, unreleased or brand new!

Now were I in any state of control at this point at all, I might really be tempted to butcher this goofy barroom folk-soaked-tune by Filthy Thieving Bastards but it's so stupid that you can't ignore it anyway!

And now I'm really ready for a belt!

Without even a minute's weakness, this compilation hits hard and often, bruising the stoic senses of a tired and bored individual just setting down from the evening's commute… or whoever you might happen to be at the first listen.

This one's vital though, in all honesty, there's nothing cheap about this sampler- we're looking at a total of 25 different hard-core / punk arrivals, old, new, used, and totally abusive in one way or another-rock and roll inebriation at its finest!

Released by TKO Records

Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]