I've been avoiding Pansy Division since they formed in San Francisco in 1991. I was a huge Tom Robinson fan, went to womyn's music shows when there were hardly any punks in that scene, and one of my number one idols is Phranc. So what's the problem? For one thing, I thought that because of the description, "homo-core," Pansy Division was musically hardcore. Ha! So, I never bothered to check out a show, thinking it was just the same-sex equivalent of meathead metal-core. (I love Judas Priest and all, but avoid cookie monster thrash.) And I've been mostly bored with the hardcore scene since the beginning of the second wave, so I felt the combination of a rather one-dimensional musical style (the loudest and fastest turned out to be the most boring, save for Bad Brains) with a fairly redundant lyrical topic based in vanilla gay sex ("He Whipped My Ass At Tennis (Then I Fucked His Ass In Bed)," "Fem In A Black Leather Jacket," and, well, their confession of "Vanilla") to be pretty resistible.

             But listening to the band's brilliantly packaged greatest hits release on Alternative Tentacles, featuring a 30-track CD and generous DVD of videos and live clips, I can't help but fall in love with the band's tunes—their lack of nasty ass Lou Reed transgressive spirit regardless. Most of the songs collected here from throughout their seven album oeuvre often get near to damn perfect power pop. Cherubic singer/guitarist Jon Ginoli writes really catchy story songs with funny twists that are unafraid of describing overtly erotic imagery, and the band keeps it simple but hard enough to get the garage rock spirit across. A great sense of humor really helps to get the band over, from the toxic dude signified in "Dick of Death," to the confessional joy of "I'm Gonna Be A Slut," to the mixed-up shit of "I Really Wanted You."

             Besides sweet melodies and literate songwriting, what makes Pansy Division really shine is its POV, exemplified by the line, "Being nice is a radical act," in the awesome, a cappella "Negative Queen (Stripped Bare)." If a band is going to be gay but fairly non-kinky, it's great they also have a Jonathan Richman wholesomeness and positivity to their spirit. Ethics and common decency seem very important at the center of most songs, in a way similar to Richman's as well. Songwriters Ginoli and Chris Freeman (bass) seem to really care about the characters they sing about, too, and as rock writer Joe Carducci says, love is the first reason to write about someone. Thus, the delightful yet devastating vignette, "Denny," fully capturing the elements of an HIV positive individual, warts and insecurity and weird charms included.

             Even a song as preachy as the anti-meth "Spiral" is done with compassion, and the fact that it's a wonderful Shoes-style pop song, too, doesn't hurt. That could be said of "No Protection" as well, which could really stand a souped-up rocked out re-mix.

             That would be my only complaint for the smorgasbord of talent-stuffed tuneage on this collection; I would love to hear a real artful Pansy Division record, beefed up with Phil Spector style production, like their version of the Ramones' End of the Century or something. Let's hope that they one day have the budget for it.