Screeching Weasel - Weasel Mania

Screeching Weasel may be the most important and influential pop-punk group this side of the Ramones. As far as their decade and a half or so of existence, the band managed to release around a dozen records. Some people hate Ben Weasel; some love him. It doesn't seem that many people reside somewhere in the middle when it comes to the band, and while a scant few of their albums will gain "classic" status, Weasel Mania stands as the only essential. The majority of the band's albums had a few gems, but more often than not, there was just too much filler. Either that, or the diversity between tracks was next to nothing. Only recently, Asian Man Records took the initiative on getting the Screeching Weasel catalog available to the masses again, and Fat Wreck hopped on the train, putting out this 34 song compilation. Some deem them as immature, and that's fair. Screeching Weasel didn't set out to intellectualize punk rock, they just wanted to have fun. Not many bands pulled if off this well. Likewise, most bands didn't have such a direct impact on the megastars of today. We can thank (or blame, if you prefer) Screeching Weasel for influencing Blink 182 and Green Day, to name just a couple. "My Brain Hurts," "Hey Suburbia," "Joanie's got a Problem with Her Uterus"--the classics are here, and though it's not exactly a "hits" album, Weasel Mania gives a proper overview of the band's existence. For that, I applaud. [www.fatwreck.com]