The only funny thing here is the title of the CD, thereafter the humour is uniformly cringeworthy. From the opening cellphone ringing and "F**k off Bono, I'm busy" piece to the embarrassing cod-reggae 'Drugs Uncool' song and the sniggering schoolboy scatology in the 'Country & Western'number, this EP justifiably earned the "Worst Album Of The Year" award in the well known SA music magazine Music Africa. Even the honoured memory of James Phillips is desecrated with their awful cover of his 'My Broken Heart' ballad.

Then, on 'Country & Western', these two funsters decide to bad-mouth some of their SA music peers, making references to "Springbok Rude Pigs", "Acrapaho", Henry Ate's "Bad Karma" and the "Macaroni head" from Just Jinger.

It's offensive albums like this that almost make one long for the days of the censor board.

Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman

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Various Artists - My Generation 2



This is the second in the series of collections of some of the better tracks from a handful of the stronger South African rock bands currently jostling for position in the front ranks of the latest SA rock invasion. 'Re-generation' would possibly have been the more appropriate title as the current crop of SA bands seem determined to create their own styles and sounds as opposed to the traditional copyist mentality.

Three of SA's brightest hopes Squeal, Arapaho and Sugardrive contribute their finest songs to make this album worth the price of admission with 'Long Pig', 'Road Kill Café' and '10 Feet High' respectively. Ed Jordan's 'Tie Me Up' is surprisingly good despite the worrying hype his recent album received, while the highly rated Sons of Trout's 'Crazy' is just that and more. Karoo's 'Alone Again' was one of the more listenable tracks off their fey and over-rated album, though Leonel Bastos could have found something better to contribute than the silly 'Hey Honey I'm Hom(e)osexual' song off his otherwise polished 'Be Like Water' release.

The balance of the songs on show here are from some of the newer bands currently hawking their wares around our rainbow stages. The Led, Henry Ate, White Trash, Drain and Garden Variety are all worth checking out and there's a track from the industrial-techno-hardcore Battery 9 that's a satisfactory sample of their widely popular musical mayhem. It seems that most of the SA record companies have supported these compilations which is good news as collections of this variety and quality can only benefit the SA music industry as a whole.

Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman

others in the REVIEWS