Coming out of the seedy underbelly of New York, Gay For Johnny Depp are one of those rare breeds, a band that can’t easily be pigeon holed into one specific genre, and therein lies their appeal. Collecting pretty much every one of their recordings, it’s not only the daunting 31 song tracklist that is challenging, the music is too. They are the antithesis of easy listening, and this realisation strikes you the moment you hit play, sounding like the guitars and drums are playing entirely different songs while the vocalist unleashes shrill screams of “You wanna go? /Think you can take me? /You wanna fight now/ Well hit me, hit me”.
Don’t think the entire record is as confrontational as that lyrical nugget would suggest though, as you can probably guess from their moniker the band have a humorous side too which manifest itself in “Hey Sailor!” A frankly bizarre, but amusing, song complete with piano and finger clicks. Elsewhere there is more humour buried in the vocals, if you can manage to decipher them.
While the majority of the album follows the spazzy hardcore footprints of The Locust or The Blood Brothers, albeit with their own unique twist, the end of this compilation marks a massive musical departure. A 7” tour EP which is heavily inspired by bands such as Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor, after being mercilessly beaten for the last hour, these two closing tracks soothes your ears back to health. While it might not be the easiest compilation to sit through the entirety of, it’s enjoyable to hear a band not afraid to experiment and cross boundaries while keeping a sense of fun about them.
