Genres: Ska, R&B
This record is a hoot! You can really hear on all the songs that the band has been practicing these for some time because the arrangements are just right and although there are like 26 (possibly more) members of the band the sound never sounds crowded. Every song is extroverted and joyous.
The linear notes of the record have a little context to what 'ska' is for all the kids who weren't around when it was last popular which would probably be the eighties. There were plenty of 'ska-punk' or 'trumpet-punk' bands through the nineties that played a version of 'ska' but the genre has fallen away a little since it was last heard from bands like Madness and The Specials. Ska has influenced much of popular music today as it was a logical step from melding Rhythm and Blues with Jamaican Mento to give the music the distinctive synchopated rhythm.
The first hearing of this band was on the Freeview Advertisment that plays on free-to-air television on most channels here in Australia, which is accompanied with the song 'The Best Things in Life Are Free". This song comes towards the end of the set and it a great way to see out the show. There are plenty of gems that crop up before this with 'Lygon Street Meltdown', 'Time to Wake Up', 'The Diplomat','Learn to Love Again', 'He's A Tripper' and 'Papa's Got a Brand New Ska'. The opener is a version of the theme from the T.V. show Get Smart and it gets everything cooking.
The band can be charged with being a little too reverent and not pushing boundaries of ska music but they show how flexible Ska music is, journeying from times that step closer to Rock-Steady and other closer to Latin music. You could also say that the approach is a bit shallow but that isn't the point, the point is to lose yourself in the music and enjoy it on its own level.
RATING: 4/5
Here is the video to 'Lygon Street Meltdown'
(Italian food is delicious after all!)
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