3 out of 5

Label: Narnack Records

Produced by: Various

Not being a Sonic Youth fan, I can’t attest to how well these tracks adhere to the originals or how creatively they may vary from the same.  Not being a Sonic Youth fan, I can say that the comp has the same effect on me as when I hear most of the group’s albums – interesting sonically with some nice riffs and heavy moments, but a bit too distancing to really connect with.  More directly, based on the groups on this comp with which I’m familiar, I fully believe that ‘Confuse’ does its job as “tribute” instead of just acting as a covers disc, each band giving their own flavor to the source material and potentially drawing a line toward an influence that I wouldn’t have immediately guessed.  This is most obvious on the opener, ‘Death Valley ’69’ as covered by Racebannon.  The track is one of the most focused and hard-hitting on the comp as well as harnessing RB’s manic vileness into a pretty awesome rocker – while still being, unmistakably, Racebannon.  Some tracks are easier to read – New Granada’s ‘Eric’s Trip’ and Elf Power’s  ‘Cotton Crown’ are pretty straight-forward, and then some tracks are just sorta blase, Steel Pole Bath Tub already born for the wandering noise of ‘I Dreamed a Dream’.  Tub Ring actually sticks mostly to the script for ‘Kool Thing,’ though amping it up with their irrepressible energy, but the only other real standouts are the cavernous thumps of Brystl’s ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ and Parts & Labor’s fuzzed-out version of ‘Sugar Shack.’  Then there’s Twink and KY Prophet, delivering some audible oddities that spice the disc up.

But, as mentioned, I still have trouble fully sinking into the material, despite the unique takes… and that, I believe, comes back to the Sonic Youth vibe.  I imagine, as a fan, these are interesting takes, but full-on covers discs are hard to do because its rare that every single group will totally own the tracks.  So it depends on how you’re rating it.  I’m looking at it from an enjoyment perspective, which slots it in the middle: definitely listenable with a couple of songs that stand on their own, but otherwise not memorable enough to make you prefer these tracks (I’d guess) over the originals.