Description
Compilation – Their Sympathetic Majesties Request Volume 2 – Double Vinyl Record
Limited to 1500 copies
Gatefold Sleeve
Their Sympathetic Majesties Request: Volume 2 is a sprawling, genre-hopping compilation released by the fiercely independent and cult-adored label Sympathy for the Record Industry—a label known for championing raw, irreverent, and often explosive underground music. Released in the early 2000s, this double compilation continues the spirit of its predecessor, gathering an eclectic assortment of garage rock, punk, psychobilly, lo-fi noise, and unclassifiable rock oddities from across the label’s vast and chaotic roster. Like a dusty, overstuffed mixtape passed between friends in a basement bar, Volume 2 is less concerned with polish and commercial viability than with energy, attitude, and the thrill of sonic discovery.
At over 40 tracks long, this compilation functions both as a primer for those new to Sympathy’s output and a treasure trove for longtime fans eager to reconnect with hidden gems. The label itself—founded in 1988 by Long Gone John—has long been associated with launching or supporting pivotal artists like The White Stripes, The Gun Club, The Muffs, Hole, and Rocket from the Crypt, though Volume 2 leans more into the lesser-known and delightfully obscure corners of the catalog. The artists featured are typically unfiltered and unapologetically DIY, and the songs range from stripped-down rock ‘n’ roll burners to experimental sound collages and genre pastiches that don’t care whether you understand them—only that you feel something.
Listening to Their Sympathetic Majesties Request: Volume 2 is a little like stumbling into a dive bar where each band on the bill is playing a 3-minute set, and every few songs the energy spikes or swerves. You might get a garage punk banger that sounds like it was recorded in a closet with a single microphone, followed by a snarling psychobilly anthem with tremolo-drenched guitars, and then perhaps a stoner rock dirge or surf-inflected instrumental that sounds like it came from a lost Tarantino soundtrack. Bands like The Dwarves, The Junkyard Dogs, Red Aunts, and The Makers appear alongside more obscure names, and the compilation revels in this unpredictability—there’s a sense of organized chaos that mirrors the ethos of the label itself.
What distinguishes this compilation from a generic label sampler is its curatorial personality. It doesn’t aim to be comprehensive or polished—instead, it reflects Sympathy’s sense of humor, affection for genre tropes, and disdain for musical conformity. Even the album title is a playful homage to The Rolling Stones’ 1967 psychedelic experiment Their Satanic Majesties Request, but where the Stones dabbled in technicolor psychedelia with studio trickery, the artists here tend to strip things down to their rawest essence. There’s something deliberately scrappy about the entire presentation, from the lo-fi artwork and liner notes to the sequencing, which makes no effort to smooth transitions or create thematic arcs. It’s a mess—in the best, most rock ‘n’ roll sense of the word.
In terms of cultural value, Volume 2 offers a fascinating snapshot of the American underground at a time when garage rock was quietly building momentum before its early-2000s revival. While more polished acts like The Strokes and The Hives were about to burst into the mainstream spotlight, this compilation captures the more visceral, unfiltered energy simmering just below the surface—music made for beer-soaked basements, house parties, and smoke-filled record shops. There’s no pretense here: only passion, attitude, and the belief that loud, fast, weird music still matters.
Their Sympathetic Majesties Request: Volume 2 stands as a cult artifact—one that preserves a fragment of independent music history that’s too often overlooked. It doesn’t just reflect a label or a scene; it embodies a philosophy of artistic freedom, risk-taking, and the enduring appeal of music that lives and dies on the margins. For collectors, crate-diggers, and connoisseurs of outsider sounds, it’s a valuable document of an era when music felt more dangerous, less algorithmic, and unapologetically alive.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
The Humpers – Apocalypse Girl
The Muffs – Big Mouth
D-Generation – Wasted Years
Redd Kross – Any Hour, Every Day
Pontiac Brothers – Almost Human
Stierkampf – Pain In Der Arsch
New Bomb Turks – Long Lost Fight
68 Comeback – Chantilly Rock
Diesel Queens – Wanderer
Phenobarbidols – This Pill
The Dwarves – That’s Rock’n’Roll
The Junkyard Dogs – Breakin’ The Law
Wreckless Eric – Joe Meek
El Vez – Esta Bien Mamacita
Jack O’Fire – Fire-Branded
Fur – I’m Not Coming
Baby Lemonade – Only One
Armitage Shanks – Dutch Cap
Sonic Boom / Spectrum – Indian Summer
Trash Can School– Volume War
Waldos – Seven Day Weekend
Jet Boys – Get Out MY Girl
Lollipop – Write Me A Poem
Psychotic Turnbuckles – Crazy Times Ahead
The Mystreated – Nothing Baby
The Friggs – Mama, Look At Me Now
Man Or Astroman – War Of The Satellites
Sacred Hearts – Bottle Of Whiskey
Mad Daddys – So Macho
Don Howland / S.C.O.T.S. – Nakema
Dead Moon – Ricohet
Thee Headcoats – I’m A Confused Man
Southern Culture On The Skids – Hey Chuck Berry
Gun Club – Cry To Me
Clawhammer – Malthusian Blues
Lunachicks – Light As A Feather
Teengenerate – No Reason To Complain
Supernova – Electric Man
Tub Johnson – Tub’s Twist
Devil Dogs – Long Gone
