[3/5]
Fat Wreck Chords' 101-song, 49-minute compilation Short Music For Short People was a punk/hardcore godsend to the ADD-addled listener, containing all the big names of the time and even charting on the Billboard Top 200. Banquet Records and Punktastic.com's 99-band sequel doesn't contain near the caliber or quality (it's limited to U.K. bands only), but amid lots of half-baked pop-, ska- and skatepunk ideas are a few good blasts (the Don Ramos Players' Leatherface-style bite; the Steal's punchy melodic hardcore). Sure, there's also the absolutely abysmal (Life Coach, who makes Hellogoodbye sound like Hatebreed), but for that and every mediocre, EpiFat-worshipping throwaway are a band like the Southern Cradle, who you'll swear were formed by Brendan Kelly at some point between the Broadways and the Lawrence Arms. Truly hating a particular song? Don't worry: It's probably over in 20 seconds, anyway. (BANQUET) Brian Shultz
 Official Website: http://www.banquetrecords.com
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