Friends & Family 2

When longtime Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir started up his own label, Suicidal Records, during the late '90s, one of the first releases was Friends & Family, a compilation of Suicidal tracks and selections from related bands. Of the six Suicidal tracks, it's surprising to find out that their long-haired thrash-metal direction of the late '80s/early '90s is passed over in favor of other styles, including Sublime-ish ska ("Panic"), funk ("Payback's a Bitch"), and a return back to the hardcore style of their early albums ("We Are Family"). Elsewhere, the tracks credited to Muir's solo band, Cyco Miko, are vintage skatepunk, while the remaining acts, Funeral Party, Creeper, and Freakazoid Twins, all specialize in funky hip-hop sounds. Fans of The Art of Rebellion may not get all the different stylistic shifts here, but Muir has always been about "expecting the unexpected," and the inaugural volume of Friends & Family certainly follows that rule.