So my Fest 7 comp is pretty much forgotten. It was a nice introduction to a lot of bands playing that weekend, many of which I didn't get to see. But, now that we are several months after the fact and the excitement of my first Fest road-trip has worn off, I can't say I'm playing those songs nearly as much. Here's the part where I tell you that this was a mistake, because it was.

The problem with all comps is that the CDs lack continuity. Songs are kind of like food in that the last thing you heard still lingers in your head when you put on the next song or when you hear the next riff. Sometimes the most explosive build-ups fall flat when we skip the track's lead-in and go right to the payoff. It can be quite disappointing, but also quite telling. Unfortunately, bad, boring, or just conflicting styles have the ability to make us less interested or engaged in a great song. This is perhaps why bands often put their best songs at the beginning of their albums. However, a comp is trying to appeal to a broad base of people by spraying them with a broad selection of music. Best is a subjective term and often the "best" songs don't keep great company.

Cheap Tragedies' company is beside the point because I listened to the comp on shuffle (for some complicated reason) and I can't remember when I heard them, but since I listened to the disc in its entirety at least once, I definitely heard them. And I forgot. It took the magic of iTunes' shuffle feature to bring them to my attention, again.

Cheap Tragedies' "Dallas Confidential" is a crusty punk song that just barely breaks the three minute mark and doesn't lose an ounce of intensity along the way. It's relatively by-the-books, but that is somewhat typical of the genre. Again, it is about execution. Also, the chorus is kind of catchy in a crusty punk sort of way. Sort of.

Cheap Tragedies - "Dallas Confidential"