Music critics often develop questionably selective memories. In their quest to appear perfect, prescient and authoritative, they forget that people are basically more alike than different, and that at some point, everyone was owned by the radio. Hits of the 70's/80's/90's compilations exploit that common ground, as do punk rock retrospectives.

The Ramones are probably the only punk band that can claim to have been around as long as Chicago's Screeching Weasel. On some level, it's respectable that any punk band could survive for 15 years. The Punk Band is usually a phase, like wearing all black-- something you do in high school or college for a year or two. But for folks like Screeching Weasel, Green Day and their peers, it's become a lifetime pursuit-- a search for the perfect three-chord pop song. Bay Area punk they called it-- post-Ramones "Oh-way-oh" ditties in the wake of first-generation Cali-punk like Agent Orange, Angry Samoans, and most importantly 7 Seconds.

Ben Weasel already compiled a Screeching Weasel rarities comp once-- 1995's Kill the Musicians. It was great in some places, and weak in others, as one might expect from a selection of punk rarities. So seeing 25 tracks listed on their second outtakes assembly, Thank You Very Little, and noting how cheaply it appears to have been produced, I banked on a known completist gone mad.

And for four songs straight, I was right. Predictably, the introductory demo takes on Disc One are horrible. They're not even funny-- just bad demos from 1986. Given Kill the Musicians' 31 (count 'em) tracks, I couldn't believe there would be any leftovers worth heating up, but Ben Weasel is known for his editorial ears. I trusted there had to be some reason for this 2xCD outtro. I was worried until "I Need Therapy" kicked in. That's when I remembered how important punk rock is-- how you have to have simple songs to cover in your first band. And there are few better play-by-numbers punk bands than Screeching Weasel. Their combination of teenybopper melodies, tight playing, and Ben's singular voice is as close to the genuine article as it gets.

"I Need Therapy" is the springboard for a blind charge through 20-odd pop-punk gems that'll make you wish you were speeding through your hometown with the top down (or the windows open, if they still work). Demos of "Crying in My Beer" and "I Wanna Be a Homosexual" rival the released versions in these scrappy, true-to-punk first takes. Long-lost gems like "Amy Saw Me Staring at Her Boobs," and quick covers of Stiff Little Fingers' "Suspect Device" and the Subhumans' "Fuck You" make for more than demo peeping-- this stuff was definitely worth compiling.

The dirtiness of the recordings on Thank You Very Little is fitting; to an extent, it unseats Kill the Musicians' more polished also-ran cuts, as the songs themselves are catchier and more consistent on the whole. But you'll start shifting in your seat when you reach the samey, drive-in pop of "Can't Take It" and "My Own World." Disc One ends on four terrifically bum notes-- bland covers of "You Are My Sunshine" and the Stooges' "Dirt," and "Tightrope," a finale that finds the band out of step with its own sound. Weasel's reworking of "Anchor" (originally by Japan's Husking Bee), tries to end on a reflective note, but they don't pull it off. It only seems included for its tear-jerker last line: "I am moving from place to place, looking for an anchor."

Disc Two contains an entire concert recorded in Philadelphia in 1993. What it was recorded on, I don't know, but as you'd imagine, the sound quality is pretty poor. Weasel makes his apologies in the liner notes-- its inclusion was sparked by the appearance of $30 bootlegs. The band run through all their hits as Weasel offers yuk-yuk in-song commentary, but save the live disc for parties or your car; you need plenty of background noise to fully appreciate a pop-punk bootleg.

-Chris Ott