Various

I'm always a little leery of compilations that are tied to commercial ventures, as they are nothing more than an attempt to hawk a crappy product with rehashed music from whichever mall-ternative bands are trendy at the moment. And they are often little more than slightly "cooler than usual" K-Tel records. Having said that though, the first in what is rumoured to be a series of inexpensive releases under the Atticus banner is definitely an exception rather than the rule. Featuring 73 minutes of music from 24 predominantly pop punk acts handpicked by Atticus clothing gurus Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus (from Blink 182), the disc contains previously unreleased tracks from Rival Schools, Alkaline Trio, Bad Astronaut, Jimmy Eat World and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, as well as a sneak peak at Blink side project Box Car Racer. There are a few throwaways on here, like New Found Glory and Simple Plan, but there's more than enough good stuff to recommend picking it up.