Various Artists - Take Action! Volume 4

It seems I'm the sole member of the Silent Uproar staff to undertake reviewing these Take Action! compilations; the past two installments in the series also found their way into my hands. And while Sub City never initiates a new format for these releases--2 discs to each, a low price of around 5 bucks, and proceeds that benefit the National Hopeline Network, any desire I've had for these collections has long since dwindled and died. I find the Take Action! albums to be scant of worthwhile material, while simultaneously overflowing with monotonous, trendy pop-punk/emo/psuedo-hardcore, etc. Whatever you want to call it; it's there. And what makes it hard to review one of these records is that while the majority of the music may be garbage, the reasons behind the creation of such a compilation are very admirable and important. While being devoid of much previously unreleased material, Take Action! Volume 4 manages to point to a handful of quality bands, mainly ones that have already roused enough attention on their own--the Dillinger Escape Plan, Coheed & Cambria, NOFX, and Taking Back Sunday are the compilation's heavy hitters. Murder By Death, the Detachment Kit, ROY, Against Me!, and Pedro the Lion all lend quality songs, but as previously stated, Take Action! Volume 4 just has too many of the whiny, overdone, unoriginal teen-angst atrocities that I personally can't swallow--Boys Night Out, Hawthorne Heights, Underoath, Rufio, etc. That list could go on and on, but I'll let it die here. Fear Before the March of Flames, Shadows Fall, Mastadon, and Terror add some heaviness to even out the aforementioned whining, but these songs do little to make amends. Disc 1 regains some cool points near the end with slightly better than mediocre cuts from the New Mexican Disaster Squad (Strike Anywhere-ish hardcore), A Wilhelm Scream (formerly known as Smackin' Isaiah), V.P.R. (decent DC hardcore), the Briggs' gang-vocal heavy street punk, and Go Betty Go's typical (but strangely tolerable) pop-punk. Disc 2 offers little that hasn't been talked about already, besides Ted Leo's splendid cover of Split Enz's "Six Months in a Leaky Boat," Melee's bouncy indie rock on "The War," and Comminique's keyboard pop on "Perfect Weapon." So, you really must ask yourself, "Do I want to support a suicide hotline and wade through a massive pile of crap music to obtain a handful of good songs for the low price of 5-6 bucks, or would I rather buy the family dinner from Wendy's $1 menu?" This is a question I'd have to think long and hard about, as should you. [www.takeactiontour.com]