Face-melting, teeth-shattering, ear drum-bursting, raw-throated mayhem from 18 of Lawrence’s rowdiest appear on Lawrence, Kansas Punk Rock Vol. 3, a compilation featuring two tracks each from (deep breath): Arc Flash, Bloom, EXTRA ordinary, Folklore Suburbia, Four Arm Shiver, Hatchet Game, The Havok On Polaris, Iron Guts Kelly, Lower Ranks, Nancy Boys, Nitemirror, Rackatees, Something & the Whatevers, Stiff Middle Fingers, Vedettes, Vigil & Thieves, Wayward Gallivant, Westbound Sign. The endeavor is a major collaboration not only from the groups named before, but Sound+Vision Studios (where the majority of tracks were recorded), Tyler Truesdell and Chris Maddox (who split duties mixing and mastering almost every track), curator (and The Havok On Polaris guitarist) Tony Mendez, artist Jon Hunter (who did the Green Day homage cover art), and photographers Ailecia Ruscin, Jacob Gill, and I Heart Local Music’s Editor-In-Chief, Fally Afani. Be sure to read through the insert to see the portraits for the compilation and band bios with their thoughts on the scene.

Harmonies and hooks, savage screams, and even Charlie Chaplin’s famous speech from The Great Dictator appear on Vol. 3 (it also ends with a cover of “Blitzkrieg Bop” by the LFK Punk Rockers). It’s a massive project that lovingly represents a portion of the music landscape. A beam of optimism for the new year. Or at the very least a kick in the ass to send this last one off.