V/A – Hours And Hours : A Tribute To Seaweed

Never really listened to Seaweed, just saw a shitload of it on the beach when I was a kid. Nowadays, there doesn’t seem to be so much seaweed washing up on the shores anymore. Is that a result of the seas becoming too polluted or because the seaweed simply doesn’t bother anymore? I don’t know but I do know the band that went by the same name, doesn’t make music anymore.

They were this emotional punkrock band that dabbled in grunge and apparently had a big influence on a whole lot of punk and post-hardcore acts. That’s not something I copied off the bio sheet, I just took one good look at the tracklisting… Favez, Steve Brodsky, Nora, KillWhitneydead and members of The Gaslight Anthem, Boysetsfire, Thursday and Moneen. It’s pretty darn impressive! As are most of the songs on here.

Ryan Mills of Koven starts things off with umm “Start With”, a loud rocker with a big chorus. And I already feel myself becoming a fan of Seaweed (the band, not the sushi ingredient). And things keep going nicely. Whether it’s The Company We Keep’s electronic take on “Steadfast Shrine”, KillWhitneyDead’s brutal take on “Baggage” or Brodsky’s acoustic take on “Chalk The Cracks”, you can always tell that the original must’ve been a solid track.

Granted, with 17 tracks you’re bound to like a couple of them less. But I have to say that compared to other tributes or compilations, I’m digging a whole lot of the material featured here. You can tell this was a labor of love for the folks over at Engineer Records… just a shame that The Draft and This Is Hell didn’t make the final cut with their rumored contributions!
Score: 7.5 out of 10
http://www.engineerrecords.com