Minneapolis’s Forged Artifacts is home to a number of artists who fall in somewhere along the punk spectrum, and a few that land a ways outside it, since 2012. It was only a matter of time before they all banded together to release a compilation. The Greatest of All-Time #1 comp consists of tracks from 11 Twin Cities bands, all of them previously unreleased, and the range of sounds here is immense.
From France Camp‘s mean brand of surf-punk, it turns over to the woozy psych stylings of Rupert Angeleyes and then slides into light, jangly mod pop of Real Numbers, and that’s only the first three tracks. From there it’s got everything from harsh to mellow, angular to distorted, each track still falling perfectly in line with its neighbors. The final one, doo-wop garage rock duo Some Pulp‘s “True Lies”, is an achey, jolting ripper that features a biting vocal hook—perfectly exemplifying the harshness and melodic sense that, in combination, make all of these artists so good. All of this amounts to a mix that’s shockingly cohesive, maybe in part because the tracks are all so guitar-heavy, but also because the energy runs so high throughout the textural changes. However ambitious, the name is well-earned; this one’s a winner.
The GOAT #1 comp will be available on cassette and for digital download December 9. You can preorder the tape over at Forged Artifacts’ Bandcamp.
