'The
Shortest Distance: A South Florida Compilation' - Fiddler Records -
1998
So
here's a long story. In the early 00s, VICTORY RECORDS released a DVD
called 'Release: A Punk / Hardcore Documentary', featuring interviews
with lots of bands (including SICK OF IT ALL, FACE TO FACE,
YUPPICIDE, IGNITE, WESTON, EARTH CRISIS, AGENT ORANGE, etc.) talking
about punk scenes at that time. As well as being a generally cool
little documentary, two things really stood out for me: the song over
the end credits (which, after some research I discovered was the
phenomenal 'Picks' by a band called QUIT), and an interview with a
seventeen year old called Amy who briefly chronicled putting on a
release show for the first 7-inch that she was releasing on her
label.
For years after watching the doc., I listened to QUIT online,
and 'Picks' has since become an all time favourite tune (I won't gush
too much here, but just hearing the opening chords makes my eyes
water), but it wasn't until last year that I decided to see if
anything more came of Amy. A couple of Google searches later and I
discovered that her label, FIDDLER RECORDS had gone on to put out
tonnes of amazing stuff, and were pretty much the catalyst for the
success of bands like NEW FOUND GLORY and THE BLED. She'd also
recently written a novel called 'A Million Miles' about a girl who
was running her own label and going on tour with a band who's record
she was putting out.
Inevitably I got in touch with Amy pretty
sharpish and ordered not only a compilation that she'd put out in the
late 90s that exclusively featured 'Picks' by QUIT, but also her
novel and a tee (and a very small hoody). Given that I'd pretty much
ordered the comp for one song, I was curious but wouldn't mind if the
rest of the tracks didn't hit me quite as much. Boy, was I in for a
shock; it very quickly became a favourite compilation (and I've
listened to a lot of comps). Just like 'Picks', every track on it
pretty much gels perfectly with my music taste; fast, super melodic
skatepunk / melodic punk-rock that has that pure energy and rawness
that you just don't get with FAT WRECK and EPITAPH bands. There are
early tunes from NEW FOUND GLORY, CHRIS CARRABBA (of DASHBOARD
CONFESSIONAL) and his early band VACANT ANDYS (who were the band on
Amy's first 7-inch), some more perfect melodic punk tunes from
MILKSHED, DAN'S ARMY, PIVOT, ANCHORMAN, GOING NOWHERE, and ONE + ONE
(love that guys vocals), the odd harder tune from bands like LAST
MINUTE, and even some ska from POOPY PANTS and KING 7 AND THE
SOULSONICS.
I've only listed about half of the bands here, but if
you're into real skatepunk, every second of this will be perfect for
you; I couldn't recommend it enough. I think the artwork is done by
that guy who did loads of stuff for HOT WATER MUSIC too. Sometimes
it's hard to get into new stuff as you get older, but this comp from
1998 blew me away in 2016. You can grab it from FIDDLER RECORDS or
listen to the whole thing on Youtube. I can also highly recommend
Amy's novel 'A Million Miles'.
Amy, you are awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NDbb-KnFA8 - QUIT - 'Picks'
xox
