Fast, upbeat, melodic punk/garage rock, fronted by a singer who mixes growls with singing, pretty much sums up the entire discography of Down In The Dumps. Musically, I thought the band sounded alright, solid if not overly exciting riffs mixing driving bass lines with noodling guitar. Vocals were a bit all over the place, sounding as though vocalist/bassist Mike Dumps wasn’t sure if he should be singing or screaming. What comes through is alternately powerful guttural screaming and gruff but unexciting scream-singing. Backing vocals in many songs, including gang vocal sing-alongs, add a dynamic element to the vocals, but don’t do much to enhance the overall quality of the music. Collectors and existing fans will be happy to have all of the band’s songs on one convenient medium, but otherwise there’s little here to get excited about.
–Paul J. Comeau (Dead Broke)