For many music fans, a new album of a band’s B-sides might seem like something that would be worth waiting 12 seconds for, that is, until it hits the used bin. Unless of course you have a quasi-religious commitment to the band that is releasing the collection – then you may have warrant for picking up the album immediately.

There are times, however, when a B-sides release is simply an overflow of fantastic material that could not be included on any of the group’s regular releases because of space limitations – Smashing Pumpkins “Pisces Iscariot” comes to mind as an example. “Shenanigans” is somewhere in the middle.

“Shenanigans” is a compilation of B-sides from the band’s multi-part U.K. releases and soundtrack material from popular films like “Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me.”

The album kicks off with the energetic rock ‘n’ roll abandon of “Suffocate,” featuring Billie Joe Armstrong’s usual counterfeit-Brit snarl and the Ritalin-deprived drumming of Tre Cool. Because Green Day has a punk soul with a thick candy-pop shell (or is it the other way around?) its punk aesthetic powers the mediocre tunes into the Land of Worthwhile Listening, so you don’t have to worry about doing a lot of skipping around on the record.

“Scumbag” and “Sick of Me” are archetypal Green Day songs, the latter featuring a cynical Billie Joe fearing the worst: “Why don’t you just admit it, you’ve had it/ You’re sick of me.”

The album also features adequate covers of the Ramones’ “Outsider” and the Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting For You.”

While “Shenanigans” is certainly no “Dookie” or “Warning,” it’s better than the average B-sides collection and should appeal to hardcore fans and casual listeners alike.

-Tony Lombardo

No matter how hard we try, it seems as if we will always have a special place in our hearts for ’80s music. Why else would Martha Quinn constantly be pimping compilations on those late night infomercials?

Remember those delightfully cheesy synthesizers that groups like Flock of Seagulls and Japan used so cleverly? Well, Deadsy does, but it also knows all about those chunky metal guitar riffs that bands like Static-X and Fear Factory use today.

“Commencement” is the best of both worlds . . . at times. The boys from Deadsy (one of whom is the love child of Cher and Gregg Allman) are outstanding on songs like “The Key to Gramercy Park” and “Winners.” The band weaves sugary vocal hooks, catchy synth melody lines and ringing power chords to grab your attention.

And you can’t help but sing along with front man P. Exeter Blue as he sings “face white/revenge of the Hitties” on “Gramercy Park.”

Other times though . well let’s put it this way. Even after hearing “Gramercy Park,” you still get the strange sensation that at some point in the record, Deadsy is going to turn into Orgy. And sure enough, it happens.

Blue’s vocals sound exactly like Jay Gordon, and the Orgy singer even appears as a vocalist on “Seagulls” and plays bass on four other songs. Irony aside, the band is at its worst when it acts as an Orgy tribute band. And unfortunately over half of the record falls along these lines.

There aren’t many tracks that rock like “Gramercy Park” either. Deadsy catches you right away with that song, but you soon find yourself wondering when you get to hear another rocker, but a lot of the album is filled with slower paced songs driven by an incredibly annoying over-distorted bass line.

“Commencement” can be somewhat boring at times, but at others it can be quite a trip to hear a metal group use synthesizers and `80s pop so seriously.

-Trevor Fisher