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**** (4 stars)
Grind
(Sheer)

Ignore the regulation Barney Simon sleeve note, calling on all young 'uns to "not care about anything, abuse your health", yet still, "don't take drugs!" The one really is the other, right? This is Blunt mag's compilation and a damn fine effort to reflect their contribution to youth culture over the 5 years of their existence. From awesome SA punky stuff like Tweak's 'Britney Spears' to classics from the Beastie Boys ('Girls') and House of Pain ('Jump Around'), there's not a bum track in sight.

Thing is, to choose tracks for this must've been a bitch, for everyone would like to have their favourite shit on one CD. They did a pretty good job though, balancing the classics neatly with the newer stuff. You can see Barney's hand with tracks like the Psycho Reptiles' 'Psycho Christmas' and the Ramones' 'Trap Door Lucy', but things never get self-indulgent at all, for it's the spirit of the music that counts here. Putting The Phoebes on this album was a masterstroke, same with Hog Hoggidy Hog's cover of 'Baby One More Time', which is far scarier than the version Travis put to disc a while ago.

There're also sure-fire feel-good numbers, like Lit's 'My Own Worst Enemy' and 'Fire Water Burn' by the Bloodhound Gang. This should go down like the death of Kenny (regularly, humorously) around the skateparks, unguarded kerbs and first hits from a joint under a culvert somewhere in the 'burbs.

One hesitates to say it, but ja, rock on. A bit like your favourite mix tape that melted in the car one summer: irreplaceable.