Live In Philly 06'

Overly prolific and growing tired after nearly two decades, the Queers of Live in West Hollywood are not the same inspired group that gave us Don't Back Down and Grow Up. First, the lineup has completely changed. Longtime drummer Hugh O' Neil passed away several years ago and bassist B-Face left the band, leaving only songwriter Joe Queer and whoever else he could scare up. Also, on the 32 songs here, they've mostly ignored their last couple albums, a good idea, as those records were completely forgettable. So, this record features the Queers ripping through a set of their classics with few stops, á la the Ramones. But almost all of these songs are available in better versions on at least one or two other discs. There are some good covers, Tommy James and the Shondels' "Mirage," Les Hernandez' "Another Girl," and the Ramones' "Kill That Girl," but they don't warrant wasting money on this collection. Live albums from punk bands are usually pretty useless, as they often feature badly recorded versions of songs that are exactly the same as those on the band's studio albums. Live in West Hollywood is recorded well, but the Queers sound like they are going through their catalog by rote, as they have for quite a few years since Don't Back Down's success. They've lost the sort of punk rock, Beach Boys sound that they captured on that disc and replaced it with a generic, straightforward sound.