Buzzcuts

What's the buzz? Razor & Tie has released 18 turn-of-the-century rock hits on a record called Buzzcuts. This collection is right in line with the trend toward re-packaging music in a process which makes every record a "greatest hits" set. When music is available through direct downloads as "singles," the impetus to group tracks by genre and target a specific audience is a perfect strategy to sell discs. Michael Anderson and Dean Babin have selected a strong cross section of 18 post-grunge, modern rockers, with a focus on driving guitars and power pop. The mix is pretty well focused and serves its purpose.

The set jumps in with both feet in the rockin' guitar world with Creed's hit, "Higher." Creed displays its southern influences with just a touch of Clash on this very recognizable hit. If you're looking for something new, it's not in this mix. This is a carefully selected set of familiar and hard rockin' hits. Predictable? Sure. On purpose? Absolutely. "Can you take me higher?" Only in a classic grunge band rock sense. Ultimately, this record has value in the individual artists and bands represented. In that sense, it's excellent.

Blink 182's "I Miss You" is clever and funky. The drumming has a cool, second-line feel. Blink 182 has an amazingly irreverent sound. They have such a witty and cynical take modern life and it comes through in the sound, the lyrics and the whiny vocals. The Stone Temple Pilots are represented by "Sour Girl," a post-modern version of the ultimate jaded look of love. Like Marshall Crenshaw's "Cynical Girl" and The Doors' "Twentieth Century Fox," STP's "Sour Girl" is darkly evocative of it's generation. They have a thick, English sound on the track with beautiful, sinuous guitar lines.

Everclear's "I Will Buy You A New Life" is total power pop. There's lots of headroom in the production and excellent vocal arrangements. These guys have a vaguely Hollies vocal sound, with a "Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz" theme. The theme of this collection of diverse hits by 18 different late-nineties/early 2000s pop groups is definitely the cynicism of modern romance. Even when the music is drawn directly from sixties influences, the lyric content is sinister and existential. 311's "Amber," which closes the disc is a slickly produced reggae with surf guitars. Strangely, "Amber is the color of your energy" may be the most romantic of the set.

If there's a "buzz" about these cuts, there's good reason. BuzzCuts is an outstanding sampler of not-so-new stuff. It's a solid set, like a radio program representing a glimpse of the transition into 21st Century pop. Each band has a distinctive sound, some defining labels (like nu-metal) and some transcending them. The disillusionment is strong here, but so is the music.