Various Artists
Six Steps To a Better You
gccd011
Released September 2003
See below for Track listing and Press Reviews

As the title implies, this is a 6-band sampler with each band delivering 4 songs. Of the six, my favorite is The Lipstick Pickups, who totally blow away the competition here. Garagey, but still in-your-face, and oh so good! The rest of the comp is a hodge-podge of some garage, some noise, some digital mayhem too.
(Dave) Slug And Lettuce #79 Spring 2004

Compilations featuring bands you've never heard of OR have heard of but never actually HEARD can always be scary, but it can be pretty cool too especially if you're like me and are always craving new music. This compilation features six bands, giving each a single's worth of space (about 5 songs each). It's a cool way to showcase bands, giving them a better shot for you to hear what they are really like. The bands featured here, Nazis From Mars, Peelander-Z, Lipstick Pickups, Bobot Adrenaline, Zero Content, and T(N)AP, are all pretty good. I can imagine playing more than a few tracks from this comp on No-Fi "Radio". I guess if I had to pick a favorite from this CD it'd be Lipstick Pickups with their raw garage sound that makes me want to hop around. Zero Content had some interesting tracks as well, although only one of their five songs lasted over a minute. The idea for the cover and theme is pretty cool. The girl at the top looks like some girl I knew in high school named Carrie Wright. I like the way each band has their own page in the booklet. Oh, and the cover lies... It says there are 24 tracks, but there are actually 99 if you can figure that one out. Get this CD for casual listening at work or while you finally cut that lawn everyone's been bugging you about.
(Chris Beyond) NO-FI MAGAZINE website, March 2004

Holy shit!!!!!!! This is un-fucking-believable. If there was a competition of compilations of the past decade this would win hands down... I think it would win even future decade competitions too, it's that fucking good. 6 bands - NAZIS FROM MARS, PEELANDER-Z, LIPSTICK PICKUPS, BOBOT ADRENALINE, ZERO CONTENT and T(n)AP with 4 tracks each - ALL gold. This really will improve your life.
NO FRONT TEETH UK webzine

Back before the Mp3 reigned supreme, two of the best ways to check out new bands for the least financial commitment was to buy a band's 7" or to check out several bands at once via a compilation. With six bands each providing four songs on this compilation, that's like the world's first 42-inch record! Thankfully it's not the same 7" over and over, either. Amsterdam's Nazis From Mars start things off with warped techno art punk. Peelander-Z rip through their usual goof punk from Japan by way of NYC. Anaheim, California's Lipstick Pickups blush and sneer their way through four snarly, girly garage gems. Bobot Adrenaline proves pop punk and a social consciousness aren't mutually exclusive. Zero Content are punk perhaps in attitude only, providing four tracks best described as sonic experiments. And TNAP rocks the deconstructed disco punk.
(Rex Reason) PUNK PLANET, Issue #60, March/April 2004

Nazis from Mars: A punk band from the Netherlands who use a drum machine instead of an actual drummer. Very minimalist in approach, some new wave trappings here and there, but are a hoot to listen to and "Don't Do It" should be a radio hit. Peelander-Z: Self-described "Japanese kung-fu action punk" and I really don't think I can come up with a more apt description, other than they are one good band. Lipstick Pickups: Trashy punk rock with nasal female vocals. I hear a smidge of Dangerhouse buried in there somewhere. Bobot Adrenaline: While I can appreciate the diversity of influences and creative spark inherent in their tunes, their brand of anthemic, poppy punk failed to move me much. Not a bad band by any stretch, it just boils down to a difference in taste. Zero Content: Four short soundscapes with someone yelling on top. TNAP: Arty, jazzy, no wave-type stuff. Overall assessment: Even though I wasn't enthused by every band on this comp, I really appreciated the diversity of bands presented and, in turn, their individual attempts to come up with something a little different from what is passed off as punk these days.
(Jimmy Alvarado) RAZORCAKE, Issue #18, February/March 2004

I have grown to hate modern day comps lately. They just seem to be slapped together like a cheap sandwich. A few do come along that I think have what I'm looking for. First, it has to have a band or two that I recognize. Second, I hope it has new songs by the band that I recognize. Third, I hope I get introduced to a new band. So I can say that this comp meets some of my criteria. It has the crazy Japanese freak-boys Peelander-Z. But those tracks are excerpts from their P-Bone Steak CD. The lovely ladies and dude who are the Lipstick Pickups contribute one unreleased song and the tracks that were on the great split 7" with the Bikini Bumps. Here's what I got for new. Nazis from Mars played an updated brand of electronic new wave that made me want to be Dieter. Bobot Adrenaline did nothing for me. They might do something for you if you like pop rock with some punk. Zero Content did less for me. A barrage of samples from a couple of people who have too much time on their hands and a good knowledge of Pro Tools or a similar program. TNAP sounds exactly like their name implies, a project. It sounds like "Hey, let's get together and jam! We'll record what comes out of it!" Half I liked and half I didn't. Not bad for what I've listened to lately.
(Donofthedead) RAZORCAKE, Issue #18, February/March 2004

A tragic compilation, with six bands doing four songs each in a row. Sob, that's six 7" EPs that will never be born! As the label says, "Damn you to hell, George Bush, and your recession too!" Well, it sort of says that... anyway, the bands: NAZIS FROM MARS, PEELANDER-Z, Lipstick Pickups, Bobot Adrenaline, Zero Content and TNAP. The Nazis are back with a curiously muted take on their frenetic techno-punk sound, PEELANDER-Z are a straight-wacko garage punker attack, PICKUPS are gurls with riffs to spare, BOBOT go for a Dangerhouse-type sound, ZERO are quick-n-weird in that lost early 80s Red Spot compilation way, and TNAP have an annoying name and a herky-jerky experimental rappin' garage take. A very solid comp with styles that clash n merge in just the right fashion. Buy.
(RW) MAXIMUMROCKNROLL, Issue #247, December 2003