Album Review

Remixer and Panda, No Panda member Shingo Asari tackles 11 selections from the Vandals' recent catalog on this fans-only remix album. It's fans-only because if you don't have Internet Dating Superstuds and Hollywood Potato Chips (or their early releases, for that matter -- the Vandals have been around forever), you don't need, nor will you enjoy a remix album of theirs. And actually, it's questionable whether anyone will enjoy all of this, fan or otherwise. Shingo layers Dave Quackenbush's original vocal tracks over wild, spastic, and occasionally irritating arrangements that spin wildly from one idea to the next. It often sounds like a gone-crazy Cornelius loose inside a SoCal punk group, or maybe a Japanese variety show trying to out-blare an Orange County radio -- guitar riffs stop and start, Quackenbush's voice yells over hip-hop drum breaks and squelchy electronica, and horn samples spurt with manic glee. "Little Weirdo" is probably the standout with its Beck-ish feel, though Japanese Remix Album feels mostly like a gift to fans clamoring for Vandals-related mix disc fodder. ~ Johnny Loftus, Rovi