Weird World Vol.2

A mere 12 years after Weird World, Vol. 1, volume two (with We Got the Neutron Bomb given as the dominant title) appeared to mop up odds and ends that hadn't appeared on the first anthology of material by the early L.A. punk band the Weirdos. As you might expect from a band that recorded infrequently and sporadically, there's a ragtag feel to this compilation. Ten of the 16 tracks, indeed, were previously unreleased; also tacked on are the late-'70s singles "We Got the Neutron Bomb" and "Destroy All Music," "Skateboards to Hell" (the B-side of a 1979 Denney Brothers single), "Hey Big Oil" (from the Denney Brothers' 1981 LP), and two songs from the 1990 Weirdos LP Condor. Although the material spans a dozen years (with a big gap between 1982 and 1988), the sound actually doesn't change much. It's straightforward ominous snarling punk, not quite hardcore but getting there, not too big on melody but not one-chord thrash either. A bit of experimental industrial rock creeps into the Denney Brothers' instrumentals "Hey Big Oil" and "Skateboards to Hell," and some rockabilly revivalism into the 1980 live-in-the-studio covers of Link Wray's "Fat Back" and Hank Mizell's "Jungle Rock." It's the late-'70s material that fans will probably be most hungry for, though, including not just the "We Got the Neutron Bomb" and "Destroy All Music" singles, but also a live 1978 track and two slightly crudely recorded 1977 live-in-the-studio numbers. Those are the freshest-sounding cuts on the set, "We Got the Neutron Bomb" sounding a little like a gallows Ramones in its sardonicism, though it all seems a lot less shocking and novel than it did back in the day. ~ Richie Unterberger