This Are UK Ska: Vol. 4
Posted by jamie on Dec 23, 2011
Various Artists
This Are UK Ska, Vol.4 – Do the Dog, 2011
9th December, 2011
Jamie
This is really, really exciting: the return of Do the Dog’s This Are UK Ska series of compilations is a long time coming, but definitely well worth the wait.
In the space of one wonderful little disc, the twenty two years (twenty two!) of tireless devotion given to supporting the UK’s DIY bands get their just rewards: the list of contributors to this record reads like a who’s who of ska and ska-punk in the UK in 2011.
The disc itself is, musically speaking, as diverse and exciting as you’d expect. It’s appropriate, given the brief and deliberately open-minded mission statement on the DTD website:
“We love ska in all its colourful guises, be it old school, laid back Jamaican style ska, bouncy 2-tone ska vibes, upbeat modern ska/pop or thunderous ska/punk!”
Given the enthusiasm with which DTD embrace new and different kinds of music and the rude health in which we find our scene, the potential was always there for a compilation this broad, this exciting and of such excellent quality.
To have pulled it all together, though, is still no small achievement. It’s excellent from start to finish, with scorching tracks from some of the scene’s exciting new talent mixing it with the more established names.
Of course, you’ll get to hear new tracks from some of the bands they’ve been supporting for years: alongside the sadly defunct Smoke Like a Fish, there’s also Do the Dog favourites, Rebelation, Drewvis and Cartoon Violence. The thing is, there are also exciting contributions from a new generation of great UK bands: keep an eye out for Miacca’s catchy Would You Like Me To Be the Cat? (unless you’re George Galloway), Copasetics’ sinister-yet-excellent Phantom Signals and the incendiary Wilsonator from John Player Specials. Then, fall in love with Breadchasers’ brilliant epic prog-ska-rock skankalong Time to Stop. It’s relatively light-hearted for the band, but fits perfectly on this compilation.
There’s so much here, and it’s all so different, so interesting and so enjoyable, that I could easily sit and type about it all day. Every track is a highlight.
This Are UK Ska Volume 4 is probably the most enjoyable so far, neatly showcasing a wide variety of established and up-and-coming UK acts. A perfect snapshot of where the scene is in 2011, it also highlights a few names to look out for in years to come.
Given that this was the label who first brought us Dirty Revolution, Catch-it Kebabs and the Skints, perhaps we were right to expect a lot from this disc. It doesn’t disappoint one bit.
This Are UK Ska, No. 4 is available now from Do the Dog Music.
Breadchasers: Time to Stop
Posted by jamie on Jun 20, 2011
Breadchasers
Time to Stop – self released, 2011
20th June 2011
Jamie
Breadchasers first released Time to Stop in 2010 on Liam O’Kane’s Offcut Records, but hit our doormat without an imprint. It’s got the new artwork on now, and looks and feels like a re-release that’s been given the extra TLC and pampering to make sure it gets everything just so. Think of it as a record that’s allowed itself a bit of extra time in front of the mirror to make sure everything’s perfect for its big night.
Over the course of the eleven full tracks on this record, the Nottingham sextet show off the depth and variety to the sound: it’s uniquely retro in its approach, evoking a distinctly different take on two-tone that’s quick out of the blocks and giddily lurches through the instantly skankable little tunes. And then there’s four tracks that clock in six or seven minutes in length: in these tunes the sax and keys come to the fore and lead the song on a trippy, strung-out dance. It’s almost dub in places, and layered with eerie echoes and effects, yet peppered with rasping, throaty vocals that, contrarily, are probably the punkiest on the record.
It’s not really the truly modern take on ska or punk/ska that I was probably expecting, if, in fact, I’d worked out what to expect: more a slightly post-modern reinterpretation that revives some of what made this music so excellent and accessible the first time that two-tone and punk gatecrashed mainstream consciousness, but sort of moves those predominantly old-school ingredients around and turns them in to something new.
At first, in places, some of this is a little raw for my taste, but the songs themselves are very good throughout, and, given that extra polish, they really do sound excellent here. Things Will be Better (the Sunshine Song) is a particular favourite: the sax, keyboard and vocal parts are all lovely but it’s the harmonies and the weird, oddly strung out, epic dub atmosphere that it creates that really makes it. The outro, where all the parts drop out and then crash back in on top of each other at once in a crescendo before gathering themselves, becoming graceful again, and strutting off leaving us looking for more, is a real high-point.
There’s a momentary pause and the odd brilliance becomes the more instantly recognisable the Chase, a more traditional two-tone number with upstrokes, a staccato sax line and just a two-tone “ha! ha!” in the vocal. The next track, Needing Dough, starts in a similar vein, but its verse is slower, almost soulful, between the choruses’ all-out sprints. Again, the execution is a little rough-and-ready, but it works well as a contrast to some of the smoother, gentler melodies and keyboard parts. That the vocals keep that snotty, punk rock twang helps to keep it authentic. There’s even a little bit of rap here, hidden away right at the end of the song. Everyone seems to sing on this tune. Can’t beat a good gang vocal, after all.
That’s this disc in a nutshell, I guess: instantly catchy 21st century two-tone in places, only a little bit punkier. Think Truebeat and then imagine them going crazily prog from time to time, and chuck in a bit of dub. It’s an oddly engaging re-arrangement of some unusually retro musical devices organised in to a totally unpredictable wander through an oddly modern landscape of reggae, dub, two-tone and punk. Great stuff.
An honourable mention to this, which I stumbled across during my research, and haven’t found an analogy laboured enough to squeeze it in. But still, it’s funny. Here’s another one.
Stand-out tracks:
Things Will be Better
Latin Goes Bread
Needing Dough
