This is hands down the most ridiculous record I own. For those unfamiliar with it, Short Music for Short People is a Fat Wreck Chords compilation (a variation on the Fat Music for Fat People series) containing 101 songs by 101 bands each about 30-seconds long and crammed into 50 minutes. Pretty much every US punk band who had made a name for themselves in the late-90's (and plenty who hadn't, plus some non-US bands) appeared either with an album track, or a specially recorded song. They're all here, and I'll leave it to you to check the pictures below or the Wikipedia page to confirm that.
When I was 16 my friends Tom and Nick both had a copy of this on cd, and I remember thinking it was a pretty ridiculous but amusing idea at the time. On cd the format just about works - cds are limited to 99 tracks so the last three ran together as one track. Most importantly, if there's a song you like, you can easily check what number you're on and figure out who you're listening to. That's not an option on vinyl. The songs are so tightly crammed onto the two sides that there's no space for even one gap in the grooves, let alone 50 per side.
Both one of the best and worst things about this album was the huge number of bands it exposed us to. On one hand, we heard songs by bands like Black Flag and The Descendants but, on the other, they were only 30-seconds long so hardly the best example of their music. In fact, I think it's safe to say that none of the bands here really have the opportunity to show off their best side (except maybe Spazz, to whom 30-seconds is a long song) so I ended up ignoring a lot of these bands for a while for being "Short Music for Short People bands", rather than exploring properly. Twelve years later, I know a lot of these bands much better and it seems like shame that Like a Fish in Water had to be my introduction to The Bouncing Souls, for example.
Anyway, shortly before returning to Canberra for my second semester there, I found this LP in JB-Hifi in Sydney. I remembered how ridiculous it was, but also the good times we had listening to it at Tom's house and thought it would be a nice album to have on vinyl, so decided to pick it up (they also had a Supersuckers record on glow-in-the-dark vinyl that I still regret not buying). The excellent exchange rate meant it was only £6.90 and I had a nice chat with the sales guy about the album (he hadn't heard it, but wanted a copy himself). The cd booklet is included in a slightly larger 8"x8" size, which is a nice touch (and pretty much the only way to keep up with the songs). Each band gets a quarter of a page for whatever info they want to include.
I don't play this album a great deal, but it's format doesn't really lend itself to regular plays, especially not as an adult. There are highlights though, and my personal favourites are You Don't Know Shit by Youth Brigade, Fishfuck by Gwar (although mostly for comedy value) and Blatty (Human Egg) by Sick of it All.
Format: 12", 8"x8" booklet
Tracks: 101
Cost: £6.90 new
Bought: JB-Hifi, Sydney
When: 09/02/06
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
