Ken Fury of F.Y.B.S. Records and lead of Rat Damage has been a bastion of DIY punk in Sacramento for more than twenty years. Sac’s punk community is what it is today in part because of Ken, with bands from all around the world coming through, so I knew when I picked up this comp (one year in the making) it was not going to disappoint. Two tapes teeming with West Coast punks all up and down this side of the Pacific. So who’s on here? Rad, Conquest For Death, Side Effects, Nudes, The Light, Iron Lung, Trenches, Replica, Charles Albright, Crude Studs, Bad Daddies, Ennui Trust, and Ruleta Rusa, just to name a few. Mostly concentrated in central Cali, and EastBay, but has a smattering of punks from SD all the way to Seattle as well. So look, I’m not a lover of tapes. It’s not my favorite medium. Usually because the tape quality is shitty, made even shittier by crude recordings played on a dilapidated tape player. Three wrongs don’t make a right, ya know? What I can say for This is West Coast is that the quality is ace. The comp flows from one song to the next with surprising levelness of volume and clarity. Includes an insert with contributions with drawings and lyrics from most of the bands.
–Camylle Reynolds (F.Y.B.S.)