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

 

9^th 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.

Robb Blake / Liam O’Kane: 2012 mini tour

Posted by jamie on Dec 17, 2011

Our boys Robb Blake and Liam O’Kane are off on tour together after Christmas.

Full dates as follows:

January 2012

Wednesday 11th - The Parish - Huddersfield
Thursday 12th - Stereo - York
Friday 13th - The Winchester Gate - Salisbury
Saturday 14th - The Garage - Swansea
Sunday 15th - The Full Moon - Cardiff - w/Captain Accident

See it on facebook here.

Heavyweight Acoustic Ska Showdown: Robb Blake vs. Liam O’Kane

Posted by jamie on Jan 17, 2011

Robb Blake / Liam O’Kane

 

Heavyweight Acoustic Ska Showdown- Do the Dog, 2010

 

22^nd December 2010

 

Jamie

 

There’s a lot of reasons for which we should be glad that the UK scene is blessed with grass roots labels like Do the Dog.  It’s the enduring love and dedication of folk like these that has helped to keep independent ska music alive in this country by nurturing new talents and giving them that first shot at getting themselves heard.  I went looking for a bit of back-story to tell here, but found a nice little bit of text on their own website, which puts it nicely enough for me not to want to change it.

 

Although there are many excellent ska record labels all across Europe and also further afield in the USA, Canada, Japan and Australia, the UK sadly has few labels that support and release up and coming ska talent. Through our operations we therefore hope in our own small way to help bring the sounds of UK ska to a wider audience.

 

It’s not quite as bleak as all that, if you ask me, but credit where credit’s due to Kevin and the team at Do the Dog because they’ve been a big part of keeping all of this alive.  For those of us that don’t want to be stuck with the metal section at HMV (the metal section that includes Reel Big Fish) or the X-Factor, Do the Dog, Bananatown salutes you.  Well done.

When this disc hit the doormat, it seemed to neatly showcase exactly what Do the Dog, from the outside, seems to be about.  Firstly, you’ve got Robb Blake, who disappeared for a while after Whitmore split, but has returned rejuvenated and now released three solo records and this collaboration on Do the Dog and puts on shows himself, at the Winchester Gate.  And then there’s Liam O’Kane, sometime solo artist and front man of Nottingham’s Jimmy the Squirrel, who just keep on getting better and better, and who all seem to be in other bands and involved in exciting things in Nottingham, where they live.

As the solo acoustic thing seems to be the in thing in ska at the moment, this delightful record is also a nice little microcosm of exactly what Do the Dog get up to.  Some of it, at least, I guess, that they’ve managed to squash in to one record and into the acoustic, solo sort of genre.  There’s a lot more to Do the Dog, and to Liam and to Robb, than is on this, but Heavyweight Acoustic Showdown is a lovely little disc nonetheless, and well worth picking up and enjoying.

At long last, we’ve mentioned the name of the record.  Onwards, then, and let’s find out about it.  This is a collaboration between Robb Blake, and Liam O’Kane: five tracks each, just them and their guitars.  If you’re new to either of them, I guess it’s a nice introduction to the guys, rather than a full album, or if you’re a fan it’s a great thing to have in your collection.  Of Robb’s five tracks, for example, two, Hit the Bottle and From Spain to Endorse It have already featured on his solo records, but are included here as acoustic tracks with a really enjoyable, straight-up, rough and ready, live feel to them.  There’s a couple of moments in there where I’m sure I can hear him having a little laugh, but, true or not, it’s got all the charm of an intimate acoustic show: that personal, friendly charm that so rarely translates to CD, but that comes through really strongly here.  Robb’s material is rowdy in parts, yet soulful and reflective in others.  Opening track Any Day Now, for instance, has some amusing reflections on being alone, and lonely, in Germany.  It doesn’t sound like loads of fun, but the song is cheerful enough and, if you’re ever in that situation, would make you want to grin and bear it.  Besides that, it’s catchy, with some endearingly cheesy rhymes, a catchy little guitar part and plenty of trademark Robb growl.  Similarly, Keep on Climbing seems to be written as a reassuring arm around the shoulder, helping you to feel down-and-out but to keep on looking up at the same time, and, again, keeps your feet tapping and your head bobbing.  The last line, “til we get there” is repeated off mic, and joins on to a spoken “go for it” at the beginning of From Spain to Endorse It that reinforces the spontaneous feeling of an original live recording.  It really feels like a good time, and party just for party’s sake.  That’s basically what the song is about, in a sense, and that’s captured perfectly in this really enjoyable live recording. The other new one, Time to Break, is less of a rabble-rouser.  Like the first couple of tracks, it’s about keeping going when things are tough, and this is arguably the most sombre of the three: it claims to be “the darker side of me”, and it’s the gloomiest I’ve seen here, but still there’s that fight in there, and still, at it’s lowest, it’s perfect for singing along to.  Then it picks up.  Ace.

Hit the Bottle, taken from Robb’s most recent album, has Liam singing the main verse.  His voice is softer than Robb’s, and more melancholy, and that difference helps to give the song’s rabble-rousing chorus a little more punch.  This one was a favourite for me last time out, and it still is here.  It’s all acoustic: that endearingly catchy, deliciously simple little riff running right through the song and the two vocal parts that start slowly, and become stronger and more upbeat as the song goes on, climbing to a joyful chorus at the song’s climax.  Excellent stuff.

Against that, Liam’s first song, Speak to Me, is immediately more sombre, giving the song’s message an urgent, desperate tone.  His manner is markedly different to Robb’s, more plaintive, melancholy in places, and the contrast works well as the two different vocals complement each other well.  Speak to Me is short and sweet, just under two minutes in length, and based around a short little guitar part and Liam’s vocal, which draws heavily on the foulful yet weary tone that’s so prevalent on Jimmy the Squirrel’s Whatever the Weather. 

Breaking the Habit of a Lunchtime is breezier, and more upbeat, yet comes from a similar formula: a short, sharp, staccato guitar part picked out on an acoustic guitar and that plaintive vocal.  It’s about the strife of giving up smoking, but is somehow positive throughout, and Liam’s vocal is stronger nd more positive.  There’s even handclapping on it in parts.  It’s instantly enjoyable, and, ironically, thoroughly addictive.  It’d be great to sing around a fire, or at least sitting in a circle.

Leave the Grey is a personal favourite for me: I just love the way the intro builds slowly and steadily in to the verse, and the little drop out between the first and second verses.  It’s similar in its tone and construction to Speak to Me, and highlighted with an echo in a couple of moments, just for effect. 

There Goes the Wagon is a sort of cross between Taxi Man from Liam’s first record, and Breaking the Habit of a Lunchtime.  It tells the story of a struggle with alcoholism through a conversation between two people.  Unlike on Taxi Man, Liam plays both parts.  Like in Robb’s material, there’s a very real sense of struggle, but at the same time a calm and confident feeling that it can be beaten.  Without wanting to spoil it, he does win at the end: after landing a few really satisfying throaty, growly notes in the song.  Ideal, really.  There’s space for one last track, the stunning Coming Back for More, which somehow, in the context of this record, feels like some sort of lighters-out epic, done in three and a half minutes by one man and his acoustic guitar.  If proof of its strength were needed, I’ve just had one of those adrenalin moments listening to it where I forgot to breathe.  So now I’m huffing and puffing on the end of my bed from listening to a CD.  It’s that good.

It’s a great little record, this, and a nice introduction to what Do the Dog have been doing over the last couple of years.  Robb’s becoming quite prolific at this solo thing, and has what seems to be a blossoming understanding with Liam.  There’s a really good collection of songs here that give a decent understanding of what both the guys are about, and show off their different talents nicely.  Besides that, its tunes are infectious, so there’s plenty of foot-tapping sing-along fun here as well.  It’s a treat for existing fans, and at the same time a great introduction to anyone who’s just discovering either of the guys, or the whole acoustic ska thing.  It’s not groundbreaking, but the songs are really good quality, and really enjoyable.  I’d get this just for that.  It’s a must for hardcore followers, and a treat for the uninitiated.

 

 

Stand-out tracks:

Hit the Bottle

Keep on Climbing

From Spain to Endorse It

Breaking the Habit of a Lunchtime

Coming Back for More

Do the Dog: a million tour dates

Posted by jamie on Oct 28, 2010

Pretty much everyone on Do the Dog Music appears to be on tour right now.  For new dates from Robb Blake, Dirty Revolution, Liam O’Kane, Jimmy the Squirrel, the Skints, the Skints, the Steady Boys, Rasta4eyes, Rebelation, Resolution 242 nd the New Town Kings (phew!) have a look here.

Robb Blake: Ain’t Got No Soul

Posted by jamie on Apr 6, 2010

Robb Blake

 

Ain’t Got No Soul (Do the Dog)

 

5^th April 2010

 

Jamie

 

In four years fronting Salisbury ska/punk outfit Whitmore, he played 1,000 shows in thirteen different countries.  That’s more than two shows every three days.  Then, after they went their separate ways in 2005, little was heard of Robb Blake for a little while.  Since releasing his first solo record on Do the Dog in 2007, the touring schedule has resumed in earnest.  A few days ago, Robb arrived home from his latest adventure, promoting his third solo release on Do the Dog, 2010’s Ain’t Got No Soul.

 

 

 

 

Liam O’Kane supplies the guest vocal on Hit the Bottle.  It’s a similar song in terms of subject matter, but the interchanging of the two vocals: Liam’s is almost plaintive at times.  The song builds nicely in to a chorus, sung by Robb, and, most likely, by you as well: this is another song that gets inside you and starts itself off: the constant presence of that rhythmic, uplifting guitar, makes sure of that.  It’s on laid-back upstrokes for the most part, but does  get beefed up towards the end: the key change in Robb’s voice as the chorus takes over, round and round, before finishing, is wonderful, a real moment for your inner pop fan: giving the song a little extra lift at just the right time.  On Here I Am he once again tries that old Buzzcocks trick of taking a subject that’s actually fairly downbeat at putting it to a great hook.  Again you’ll find yourself singing your devotion to Robb’s rum and how “one night turns in to five very easy now”.  Don’t fight it: sway with this one and sing with him, just because it’s so much fun.  I’m enjoying this record all the more as it goes on.  There’s a moment midway through the song where he’s half-speaking, almost rapping quickfire lyrics before the return of the refrain and then a drop-out to just the bassline and then an instrumental.  The song’s packed with lush little melodies, though, where previously on the record it was slightly simpler there’s more to this song and it’s really worked.  As your insides get lifted up in a heavy, happy sigh, you can feel the benefit of that.

Title track Ain’t Got No Soul is the record’s first that’s properly skankable and really gets your shoulders going, not just side to side.  The song starts quietly but the return of Robb’s rich, throaty growl kicks it off and you’ll be bopping around to this for the duration now.  It’s cheering on a quiet afternoon at home, so it must work in concert.  Oh, and There’s a gang vocal shout of “hey! hey!” over the guitar solo.  Highways continues the goodtime, skanking fun.  It’s still just Robb and his guitar but it’s still really infectious and thoroughly enjoyable.

 

Where his subject matter is occasionally pretty dark, a song called Everybody’s Leaving would be expected to be quite down, but not so.  Instead, it’s upbeat, uptempo and thoroughly uplifting.  “I can’t speak for you, but I’m Ok” he sings at the top of his range, “..and I got everything I need right here”.  It’s the first time I’ve noticed percussion, for the record, and the song fairly runs along.

 

Million Miles is a little more chilled out for a time, but ends up matching Robb’s gravelly-voiced growl with high-speed upstrokes as it sprints for the album finish that comes afterwards with the last one Nothing But Rubble.  This one starts quickly and carries on that way, Robb’s quickfire vocal over upstrokes and the contagious repeated chorus of “this house is falling down”.  Robb’s last guitar solo actually gets a bit epic rock on us here, and the combination of off-beat guitar strokes and percussion works nicely.  It’s a great way to wrap up the record and a guaranteed singalong.  By the time it’s over, you’re just left to reflect on what’s gone before: a little over half an hour of sheer joy, a surprisingly broad selection of songs, and the sort of good fun that sticks around in your head.

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing But RubbleNB: there’s a lot more great tracks than these. 

 

But I felt daft typing out half the album here.