VA - 0-60 In Five Years - The Complete Shifty Disco Singles Club Collection [5CD Box Set] (2002)

Shifty Disco is the home of the likes of Jack Drag, Elf Power, and Beulah. What's probably left as a little secret is that this hip label, ever since starting up, have had a monthly singles club. Subscribers were able to be one of the insiders, getting your hands on exclusive material by new and old, lesser and well-known bands. The fifth birthday of the successful Shifty Disco label had, for all its productivity, to be celebrated big-time. So for a short period of time the albums of Shifty Disco were extremely low-priced through their own label and The Complete Shifty Disco Singles Club Collection was issued as their present to us (despite the commerce involved, to quote Low). Damned, if you're one of those people paying loads of money to get these singles, you're probably pissed off with this celebration. No party mood for you anymore. No longer are these tunes that exclusive! OK, the b-sides weren't issued, but that may come...

But I wonder how many people really held on to getting their payments out to Shifty Disco judging by this compilation of songs. Not wanting to slate it, but it's not all Beulah's "aaahhs"- and "ooohs"-qualities here. There are some really nice songs on this compilation though, such as on disc one: The Unbelievable Truth's Building and the first recording by Mark Gardener (Magdalen Sky) after the split of one of the best British bands of the last decade, Ride. The obsessive ex-girlfriend song by Beaker (Backgarden) may not be the best song ever written, but still it sure is fun listening to it: "I cooked both my ears in that cake I baked you / So I could listen in on your conversations / And I left my tongue on your toothbrush / So I can taste you." Apart from the pop tunes or the more raw rock'n'roll ones, there's also a lot of "hey-look-just-hear-how-hilarious-the-stuff-is-that-I-made-on-my-Commodore-64-in-my-attic-room." So in between all of the seriousness there's lots of room for fun and childish experiments. In a sense this may sound a bit disappointing, but it's good to hear that the label sees everything in perspective. On the same disc you'll find techno-for-idiots (Teenage Kicks), which could only be fun when you're completely insane or drunk or live in the country and still drive an Opel Manta. The simple but effective sound collage Lubetune by SPUNKLE (!), which in the end isn't as stupid as the maker wanted it to be, is great (fun) too. Codes' hauntingly beautiful Eighties guitar pop song Simple is followed by the Abba-esque Welcome ("to my house, it's not hard to find") by The Full Monty. The first disc ends with a traditional lager-filled pub-rocker, Son Of The Human Cannonball, that makes Gary Glitter look childish. And this is just one disc! We've got four more to go.

On the following discs there's lots more pop/rock that hasn't risen above the rehearsal stage, lots more of idiot-techno, but also good songs by unknown bands (Kilter = wave-like punk, The Four Storeys = classic acoustic pop, Whispering Bob = slide guitar pop, The Panda Gang = bluesy hop rock, Vigilance Black Special = sort of early-day Lambchop), and the more-or-less famous boys and girls such as Jack Drag (doing a Tomorrow Never Knows-like song), Elf Power (Jane), Beulah (Sunday Under Glass), and For Stars (Spectators). Ridiculous lyrics everywhere; you just have to wait for the next song: "Drugs, only gotta try 'em once / It'll have you stealing from your cousins / Your uncles and your aunts." (Overground). Frigid Vinegar samples Tom Jones' It's Not Unusual, combining it with lyrics put to a party beat: "It's the year two thousand / Is there anybody out there? / If you're from another planet / Put your hands in the air." Uhm, yeah, right. There's fun, too, with Joey Herzfeld's folk-rock, Persil (an electronic Moldy Peaches), Burt Lump Orchestra (Damon Albarn e'd up), Jason Morphew (Badass With A Heart Of Gold), Morbius' fat electronic RockandRoll, Astro B (Yoga Disco), and The Corsettes with their instant classic Sexy And Blue. There are so many cheap laughs, good laughs, alright laughs, and of course some excellent songs. Although the Singles Club wasn't set up to be a compilation, all of the songs together are beautiful, good fun, and - more importantly - they fit. I'd get in a party mood if I were you. 0-60 In Five Years - The Complete Shifty Disco Singles Club Collection is a great present to get or to give. Suit yourself.