Mainliner: Wreckage From the Past

As the title suggests, this is a collection of the venerable California hardcore band's early material, and as such it's a trifle derivative. The band wears its immediate influences--the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Ramones--on its sleeve here, and the tinny low-fi sound (emblematic of the D.I.Y. spirit of the early '80s) also makes MAINLINER something of a period piece. Still, one can hear hints of the far more original work to come, particularly on the slower, sort of EXILE ON MAINSTREET-goes-punk tracks like "Playpen." There's also a nice brash take on the Stones' "Under My Thumb," a song that would later turn up (in far more polished and effective form) as a hidden track on Social Distortion's 1996 WHITE LIGHT, WHITE HEAT, WHITE TRASH.