Review: DeeCRACKS – “20 Years. A Frantic Effort”

Pirates Press Records – 17 Nov 2023

Austrian trio DeeCRACKS have spent the last two decades cranking out some of the world’s best pop punk. They’re well enough known in their home country to throw a multi day festival to mark the occasion. Their last few releases have been on Pirates Press Records (not including a split with The Manges on Mom’s Basement Records), which has no doubt helped spread their name beyond Europe. 

What better way for the rest of the world to help celebrate the milestone than with a new double LP? How about with a massive 28 song triple ten inch? That’s exactly what DeeCRACKS deliver in 20 Years. A Frantic Effort.

All but two of the songs are re-recorded versions of old favorites. This is often a red flag, but here it works. The older songs are true to the way the band play them now, and this also avoids the type of audio discrepancies you often get in more traditional compilations. 

The 28 songs on 20 Years. A Frantic Effort are mostly culled from the band’s five studio LPs. (They also have a live album and more than a dozen singles and EPs.) The songs are mixed up chronologically, reminding the listener how consistent they’ve been over the years. 

Like a lot of European pop punk acts, they tend to stick to more of an early 90s style of that sound. Think more Ramones, less Blink-182. American bands like Screeching Weasel, The Queers, and MTX would be kindred spirits, along with fellow Europeans like Zatopeks, The Apers, or the aforementioned The Manges. 

It’s difficult to pick highlights, as all the songs (save the new ones) are fan favorites. “Shambles”, “I Need a Nurse”, “My Baby Quit Rehab”, “Kill or Cure”, “Don’t Turn Your Heart Off” and “Beach 90” all jump out at you from the very first spin. 

One of the new songs, “Burnt Out”, kicks off the record and explores the darker side of doing something nonstop for 20 years. The penultimate track, “Where We Belong”, is the other new one. It’s a straight up love song with DeeCRACKS signature grit. Both are solid additions to the band’s significant catalog.

If you’re not familiar with DeeCRACKS, this might seem like a daunting place to start due to the sheer quantity of it. This is actually a great place to jump on the bandwagon. It’s a ton of great songs in one place. Not a bad couple of decades for a band who formed with the sole intention of playing a single set of Ramones covers. These songs show a band with staying power. Who knows? Maybe the world will get lucky and they’ll last another 20 years. 

For vinyl fiends: 20 Years is offered in two color variants. First press is 700 on neon yellow and black galaxy vinyl and 300 on clear and black with neon yellow splatter Insomnia vinyl. The simple slipcover jacket is a black, white and yellow collage of many of the band’s previous releases. All three inner sleeves are printed too.