I am certainly not the first reviewer to compare a label sampler to an hors d'oeuvres platter. Hell, I'm probably not even the first this week. It's too perfect, really-- little Epicurean delights as varied as the Galapagos sparrows: ham folded into miniature blueberry muffins; liver wrapped in a bacon embrace; the traditional Cheez Whiz on Ritz. Something for everyone. Bite-sized and delicious. But not real food.

Similarly, label comps have a different purpose entirely than a band album. These are utilitarian recordings-- no one, including the brass, expects a label comp to make a year end best-of list. Their goal is to present, in microcosm, the roster of the label; to give you a taste. Best of? Worst of? More likely whatever's on hand and convenient to include. Vagrant puts a little more than the average effort into this particular omnibus, making some thought-out and solid choices. Twenty tracks by 12 bands features a good portion of unreleased and harder-to-find songs mixed in with the usual "in stores now" plugs.

Unfortunately, too much of Another Year on the Streets is closer to those deep-fried variety baskets you get at popular chain diners than gourmet party nuggets. Along with those short-order cooks, my mother-in-law discovered many years ago that if you bread-crumb and deep-fry anything, even vegetables, it all tastes about the same. And it's very, very bad for you.

The standouts can almost be predicted from the liner notes before the first spin: Rocket from the Crypt carries a large portion of the load, with help from the Anniversary and the super-sincere Saves the Day. Their six tracks alone are worth the price of admission, which, in this case, is under five bucks.

The label sampler works both ways, though, and reminds one of some of the chaff lying around. Stuff you may have worked really hard to forget. Did the Get-Up Kids think an alternate version of "I'm a Loner Dottie, a Rebel..." was enough penance for Something to Write Home About? If they need to be reminded, we have Brent D. on-call. From the mainstream ambitions of the Alkaline Trio to Automatic 7, whose shameless Social Distortion thievery sets a new standard for flagrant vocal plagiarism.

Bizarre but welcome is a pair of true surprises. Face to Face turn in a decidedly guitary cover of the Pogues' "Sunny Side of the Street" and the Gotohells contribute the metal ballbreaker "Rock 'n' Roll America," a black sheep if ever there was one. But aside from those tracks, what's most astonishing about this record is that it has a uniform production sound, despite being assembled like a patchwork from various extant and forthcoming releases. On two-third of the tracks, the mix proportions are nearly identical.

It's completely unfair to treat (and rate) a disc like this as if it were anything but a collection of CD trailers. Is Another Year on the Streets a good snapshot of what you might find on Vagrant Records? Surely. Whether or not the bands on Vagrant are worth your time, money and effort is another matter entirely. One for you to decide. So buy it. Consider it advance research, and keep an eye out for it in the used "various" section. It'll probably wind up there soon enough; all albums of this sort do.

-John Dark