Music Review: Knifetwister Records’ Not in Our City 2, A Punk Rock Compilation to Benefit Immigrant Rights

I just got done listening to Not in Our City 2. This was right up my alley. I have always been a fan of compilations. Growing up, I always looked forward to Punk-O-Rama, Punk Goes…, and the numerous Fat Wreck Chords compilations, just to name a few. It’s something I feel like we are robbed of as we’ve moved into this digital era of music. Sure, we get curated Spotify playlists, but it’s just not quite the same. To me, a compilation goes beyond artists who are similar. I miss the artwork more than anything, but I also miss how older compilations had a theme that went deeper than just being the same genre of music.

Enter Knifetwister Records’ Not in Our City 2. This is a well-crafted punk compilation with a common theme—a great theme at that—immigrant rights. This is a charity project, with all proceeds going to Make the Road NY. This project brought together 22 bands spanning 8 different countries. That alone was impressive, but what stood out even more was the range of punk. No track sounded like another. Some are hardcore, some are more melodic than others—such a varied range, and I loved the discovery aspect. I was not familiar with any of the bands previously, and I definitely walked away with some new favorites.

The first track is a more hardcore song called “If the Time Is Right” by Incendiary Device. This took me back to my youth. It’s 37 seconds of pure underground energy. Think back to your youth—this is small, cramped basement show energy. To me, this is punk in its purest form: fast, loud, in your face, and doesn’t give a damn.

The second track, “Counting Sheep” by Duel, is another band I feel like could have been part of my youth, which I found to be a common theme throughout this compilation. Duel leans a little more toward rock/metal but still displays that punk energy.

Saints of Lorain’s track “Drunk and Dangerous” feels more in line with my current taste in punk—a little more melody, but still with an attitude. It gave me the same kind of vibe I get when I hear a lot of Pennywise.

“Let Me Live” by 18Fevers was one of my biggest finds. It’s a Korean punk band with so much fight-the-system energy. I actually had to do a little research on the song. According to the band’s Wikipedia, “18Fevers wrote the song ‘Let Me Live’ as an anti-transphobia anthem, dedicated to Byun Hui-su, who took her own life in 2021 after being discharged from the ROK Army.” Out of all the bands on this record, 18Fevers is at the top of the list of new bands I’d want to catch live.

The next song that really stood out to me was “Patterns” by Skip the Needle. I can’t get over how much this reminded me of The Distillers. The voice, the style—I don’t know if they were inspired by The Distillers, but this has so much Brody Dalle DNA in it that I would be shocked if there wasn’t some influence.

“Watterbuffaloe” by The Colorflies was another track that really stood out. It reminded me a lot of the mid-to-late ’90s in the Pacific Northwest, where punk and grunge were starting to mesh together. At its core, it still feels very punk, but it has nuances that hint at influences outside of the traditional punk world. Very cool sound.

The last song I want to highlight as a real standout is “Punk Love Story” by My Like Sunday. This feels so classically Warped Tour—not the modern Warped Tour that feels like a corporate festival with punk rock roots, but the ’90s Warped Tour that I grew up on. The Warped Tour that was equal parts punk summer camp and traveling circus. It’s pop punk, but not the “mall punk” kind. This has DNA from early MxPx and Dude Ranch-era Blink-182. It gave me all the feels of the punk scene that first stole my heart.

As a collective project, Not in Our City 2 is a total success. It feels like a compilation I will keep coming back to because every time I listen through it, I hear something new. It unlocks a forgotten core memory. Much of this album takes me back to my youth, when I was just discovering the scene. This isn’t polished, overly rehearsed punk—this is raw energy and community. This isn’t arena-level punk; it’s that sweet spot where an older punk like myself can reminisce, while at the same time, you could hand it to a young, angsty teen and inspire them to start the next garage band.

We need more projects like this. I look forward to following many of these bands and hope to catch them at a small club sometime soon.