SNUFF “Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other”
When this SNUFF retrospective disc arrived in the mail, it dawned on me that many artists on Fat’s roster are closing in on those “Greatest Hits” and “B-sides” years, where catalogs are bolstered by giving fans everything they could possibly want. Given Fat’s track record in delivery high-quality goods in their “Live in a Dive” series, and what they’ve assembled here on Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other (and already on the few similar style discs they’ve compiled), they might just give Rhino Records a run for its money if they get into doing reissues. I’ve never been able to gauge the popularity of SNUFF in the US. I became a fan of theirs after hearing “Nick Northern,” on “Survival of the Fattest” in 1996. The first album to break the band open in the US was Demmamussabebonk, which to this day stands out as one of the most fascinating things Fat has ever put out. That release corresponded with the band doing a national tour of the US with NOFX, and a host of new material flowed thereafter on Fat, including the full-length Numb Nuts, and a final nine-song disc called Blue Gravy: Phase 9. The band’s transition from the high-octane energy and clever songwriting on Numb Nuts (fusing a trombone and organ into a fast, skate-influenced pop-punk group is still practically a matter of unprecedented nature), to the more straight-forward, and generally, flat stylings of Blue Gravy… was disheartening, but not too surprising, as it hinted at a band that might have tapped out all of its creative resources. Of course, before SNUFF landed on Fat, they were already all-stars in England, and have been widely credited with single-handedly keeping together the UK’s pop-punk scene. Much of the band’s early material is well-represented on Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other, and although the recording quality of such is lacking compared to their latter tunes, it shows the seeds of a band aggressively playing punk rock with a form of melody (and humor) that immediately sounds timeless, and not nearly as prissy as some of today’s “smile for the camera,” pop-punk boy bands. As far as “retrospective” releases go, Fat nailed a grand slam with Six of One…. This double disc set features 25 of their greatest hits on disc one, and then has another 25 songs of b-sides, covers, and oodles of unreleased material on disc two. Expectedly, the second disc is likely to find more love from collectors and SNUFF fanatics, but one can still get through it without having to skip over too many tracks. One of my favorite songs on the b-sides disc is “Walk” from the band’s Long Ball to No One EP, which contains a hook that not even FALL OUT BOY could match. Additionally, the band’s “I Will Survive” cover is top-notch. I’ve got no qualms whatsoever with the greatest hits disc – the chronological sequencing puts into motion the band’s startling evolution (and devolution – what where they thinking with “Arsehole”?!?), and hearing such old favorites as “Martin,” “Nick Motown,” and “Keep the Beat,” never fails to put a smile on my face. Fittingly, Fat went all out with the artwork, amassing a thick booklet of photos, personal bands notes, and a brief band recap by Steve Lamacq of BBC Radio. It’s efforts in artwork like this that make me feel queasy about a digital-distribution only world because frankly, viewing this booklet in PDF wouldn’t do a thing to match the feeling of it in your hands. Hands down, Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other is an essential release for any SNUFF fan (ranging from mild to fundamentalist), and even for those uninitiated with the group, the greatest hits portion is bound to convert anyone willing to listen.
Fat
