various artists - Fighting Music

This one should probably be subtitled, "The Soundtrack of Summer 2001".

A shared sampler of the early days for Boston's Deathwish and Bridge 9 Records, along with Philadelphia's now-defunct Thorp Records, just about every single band on this CD played the I-95 circuit between Richmond and Boston between 2000 and 2002. And I saw just about all of them. It was a time I remember best with snippets of Derek Hess art, zip-up hoodies, cheeseburger subs from the Greek diner down from Reptilian, and a half-dozen hole-in-the-wall venues, all long since gone.

When I was younger, I had this expectation that the music I listened to 20 years ago would sound dated. Is it because the music I first heard as a child in the early 80s sounded ancient, and I assumed, no matter how connected to it I was, it was all going to sound old two decades later? Yet when I re-listened to this a few days ago, I didn't just get snagged with nostalgia. "There's A Black Hole..." and "Thaw" and "Your Airstream Future" still feel vital, and fit seemlessly within any mix of modern HC and punk I could whip out,

If you see this one out and about for a buck, I say snag it. Give your in-dash CD player a workout.

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