The Rebel Sound of S**t and Failure

A straight reissue of an out of print 1996 compilation on bandleader Sam McPheeters' own Vermiform label — although for some reason it lacks one track, the negligible hardcore blurt "Albany Academy" — The Rebel Sound of S**t and Failure is the definitive Born Against document. Collecting all of the band's single and compilation sides — the very roots of the D.I.Y. hardcore ethos for any band and usually the place where a band like Born Against makes its most cogent and direct statements — this 24-track compilation ranges from a hyperspeed 16-second blast of righteous anger like "The Nail That Sticks Up Gets Hammered Down" to even more venomous mosh pit anthems like the seething "Witness to a Rape." It also contains lighter moments like the pair of Screeching Weasel covers, "Janelle" and "Go F**k Yourself," that Born Against contributed to a split single with that band, as well as a stunningly effective cover of X's "Riding With Mary" that somehow manages to make the anguished original sound almost tame.