The guys from Strung Out from California have been making their music for 17 years now, mostly fast American punk rock with some metal elements and catchy guitar solos.
During this time, they have released a total of 6 full-length CDs and 2 EPs, which have steadily improved in recording quality, peaking in 2007 with the release of the album “Blackhawks over Los Angeles,” where producer Matt Hyde, who has worked with the likes of Slayer and Hatebreed, contributed significantly. With the release of “Prototypes and Painkillers,” Strung Out breaks this pattern, as their new album features no new recordings, but rather unreleased songs, B-sides, compilation contributions, and demos. Their renowned label “Fat Wreck Chords,” which is also home to bands like Anti-Flag, Against Me, and NOFX, stated that the CD is absolutely essential for any fan of Strung Out. Which label wouldn’t claim that about the new releases of its offspring, so to what extent is this statement justified?
The album comes packed with its 25 songs and presents the musical journey of Strung Out, albeit not in chronologically correct order: 4 songs were recorded 17 years ago, while 2 others were recorded just last year. Thus, it offers a journey through the band’s history and a qualitatively diverse mix, as the demo songs are logically also in demo quality. The listener will also notice the changes in Strung Out's work: from the still somewhat raw, unrefined, punky sound of the early days to the polished newer tracks of recent years with many metal elements, everything is represented. The melancholy, also anger, the somewhat, albeit very little, political critique, and above all the dark lyrics accompany the band all the time.
Nevertheless: The Strung Out song “No Voice of Mine” was featured on the “Rock against Bush Vol. 1” sampler back then, it convinced me immediately and became my favorite song on the CD. On “Prototypes and Painkillers,” I search in vain for such a convincing song, which I find very unfortunate. The CD also seems to me to be little varied, rather monotonous, and reminds me a lot of other American punk bands like the earlier Pennywise.
In this respect, I agree with Fat Wreck Chords: For fans of the band, the album is certainly a good thing, as it significantly eases the search for rare songs, provides old, unreleased recordings that no fan knew about, and completes the Strung Out collection on the shelf.
But convincing fans to buy it is not difficult. For me and all other non-fans of Strung Out, the album will be interesting, but not convincing. Musical rarities should mostly remain such, and there’s a reason Strung Out didn’t include the already recorded songs on their previous albums.
