For better or worse, the Underground showcase has dragged indie rock out of the band rooms of Mong Kok and Kwun Tong, and onto the stages of venues such as the now-defunct Edge and Les Visages, and the alive-and-kicking Cavern and Club Cixi. In its four and a half-year history, it has never laid claim to showing off the world’s best music; rather, it has offered a leg-up for bands looking for ladders to climb.

That supportive strain is reflected in the release of this compilation (see Feature, p87), in which eleven bands are allowed two tracks each to show off their wares. That’s a policy with a pro and a con. The pro is that is that the two tracks provide room to be more representational of the bands’ music; but the con is that it stretches the compilation to a two-CD, 92-minute affair that asks a lot of the listener. It’s a big gamble on what is, really, a bunch of unknown bands with promise.

Speaking of which, there are two great reasons to pick up a copy of this CD right now:  Velvette Vendetta, and Chochukmo. The glam-rockers Vendetta kick off the album with a soaring rock number (Night Before the Snow Storm) that evokes Queens of the Stone Age and features impressive ululating, falsetto vocals and a great instrumental break down, with some big metal-esque riffs and symphonic electric organ working at full tilt. At the album’s tail-end, Chochukmo tears the lid off the staid-rock conventions that plague our indie scene with two tracks (Number One and Head to Toe) that meld Latin-influenced guitar leads with dub-like use of the waa waa pedal and off-beat, multi-layered vocals. File these guys away under ‘must-see’.

The rest of the album offers flashes of excellence (The Jam-like understatement of Born to Hula’s Goner; the psychedelic lead guitar in Sinister Left’s Caped Carnival; the foot-to-floor electric wailing in The Sea Monsters’ Improvisation 1), and moments of dullness in equal measure. All in all, it’s a fair reflection of where our indie scene is at today: immature but growing and diversifying, with a few, distinct, high points. Hamish McKenzie

The Underground Compilation is on sale in most CD stores now and via cdbaby.com