CD Review: PROTECT

I am a father. That trumps anything else in my life, period. This means putting my kids first and I gladly do so. It also means worrying about them growing up in a world with people in it willing to exploit and harm children. It would be nice if the world we lived in didn't need an organization like PROTECT - The National Association To Protect Children, but it does. Here is their mission statement: PROTECT is a national pro-child, anti-crime membership association. We are founded on the belief that our first and most sacred obligation as parents, citizens, and members of the human species is the protection of children from harm. We are committed to building a powerful, nonpartisan force for the protection of children from abuse, exploitation and neglect. We believe that this must be done through a determined single-issue focus, a meaningful mainstream agenda and the use of proven modern political strategies. What does this have to do with music?

Punk rock label Fat Wreck Chords is a corporate sponsor of PROTECT and they have just issued a compilation album whose proceeds will go to benefit the organization. There are 26 artists included with 15 songs never previously released. As with any compilation album there's some stuff I really love and some that has me leaping to hit the skip button before 5 seconds have elapsed and this will apply to most consumers. If you say you like everything on here I'd be tempted to call you a liar, but whatever. Here are my favorite goodies from this disc: MxPx's "Broken Heart's Disease" is primo pop punk, NOFX's "Red State" stoops to stereotyping, but damn if the song doesn't rock with the sort of abandon I cherish, a never before released live Jawbreaker cut, "Want", shows why the emo kids hold them in such reverence, Hot Cross brings some Iron Maiden guitar along with them on "Tacoma", and Western Addiction keeps the old school hardcore punk rock torch blazing fiercely with "When Friends Attack" and this is just a tiny bit of what I appreciated.

Punk rockers and parents unite! Go and buy this album today. It's for a worthy cause and the music is good. Your kids might just thank you someday.