©2011 Asian Man Records
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

When I first heard about this band I was quite excited. The group is a bit of a ska dream team, if you will. When I heard that there was going to be a release this year I was even more exited. “Watch Where You Walk” is the new album by Dan P and the Bricks; You’re going to have to be patient though the album drops on 11/29/2011 on Asian Man Records, natch.

For those of you unfamiliar, Dan P is, of course, Dan Potthast of MU330 fame. The Bricks, not to be out-pedigreed, feature members of Slow Gherkin. Combined, the results are that mythical situation where the result is greater than the sum of the parts. But with a 5 piece horn section, dual guitars, organ bass and drums, the math can’t be too far off.

The music is straight up ska goodness with everything I love about the respective members bands, and about ska overall. On top of the tradition, Dan P & The Bricks make the style their own, and an awesome style it is.

While each track is pretty much a gem, a couple of the best are: 1. Watch Where You Walk, 4. Set Sail (Which is a new version from Dan’s Eyeballs release) and 5. One Reason (has great point/counter point male female vocals). Honestly I’m having a hard time pulling favorites.

In addition to the great music, the band is down for a cause. Their focus is to play locally and raise money for local charities. How’s that for rad music with a conscious and a voice for change! (Fund raisers so far have included benefit concerts for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Hospice of Santa Cruz County, Haitian earthquake relief, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, Doctors without Borders, and The Surf City AIDS Ride benefiting The Santa Cruz AIDS Project.)

So let’s hear it for some fresh off the shelf ska at its shiny new best. Maybe we’re finally gonna get the next wave. You can get more info about the band and get yourself a copy over at asianmanrecords.com

–Jerry Actually

For fans of: Ska, MU330, Slow Gherkin, The Slackers, The Toasters

Watch Where You Walk Tracklisting:
1. Watch Where You Walk
2. Fan
3. Footdown
4. Set Sail
5. One Reason
6. Map of the Stars
7. Mess It Up
8. Heartbeat Survival
9. Completely True
10. Connecting Four
11. Sweat For It
12. Quit On Me

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
© 2010 Mrs Skanotto

Well folks, I am sonofabitchin impressed. I wrote something; someone actually read it; new audio shows up in the mail. (Specifically I said that I miss ska. Less specifically, I think I screamed it into the night sky.). So here’s what’s shakin’ bacon. I’m listening to the new release, The Long Dark Road by Rochester’s own Mrs Skanotto.

Admittedly, I am not familiar with Mrs. Skanotto. I feel a bit like I have been missing out, this being their 5th release and all. Apparently the Continental Divide does more that determine where water ends up. However, now that I’m in the know, so to speak, I’m digging the new grooves.

The Long Dark Road is a full on New England (maybe NE would be more accurate) 3rd wave ska CD. The disc delivers on 12 tracks of soulful down beat horn dripping ska. Seriously, what can you not like about music that elevates the mind and soul and makes you want to skank to boot.

The more I listen to this CD, the more it makes me think that I’ve heard this band before. On some comps maybe? For lack of any official remembrance, I’ll try to liken the sound to something I’m more familiar with. I’m thinking that an artful blend of Spring Heeled Jack (USA) and Deals Gone Bad (albeit with less Piratude) would be a reasonable assumption.

So here is the big breakdown. The Long Dark Road delivers really solid ska. The content ranges from love and longing to pompous posturing to camp to the dark depths of suicide. Despite the darkness the disc stays on the lighter side musically and keeps you dancing throughout. Oh, and did I mention horns? Honestly, the horns bring it!

-Jerry Actually

For fans of: Spring Heeled Jack, Deals Gone Bad, Toasters, Ska

Track Listing:

1. The Other Man
2. Girlfriend
3. Long Dark Road
4. Smashed Against the Wall
5. Ordinary Girl
6. Girl Come Back
7. Self-Appointed King
8. Get Off the Fence
9. Time to Play
10. Mainstream
11. Finally Happy
12. The 86th Floor

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© 2009 God’s Ghetto Records

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

You know what I miss? Ska. Maybe because it was foundational in my youth and I pine for the long gone days, or more likely because ska is full on awesome, I miss ska. Thankfully I have a mailbox that occasionally gets laced with some of the good stuff. What do I have here (hear) you might ask. Well what I have is a brand new CD, Creation Sounds from Ruder Than You. This Philly ska band has been bustin’ it since back ’89 at Penn State. Eight great tracks of pick it up, dit dit dit, horn laden ska. For the uninitiated, ska music was invented by future robots that came back to the past disguised as Dutch colonists to the island for Grenada. After they invented the bicycle they grew bored and started ska bands. Ok, no really, there is a reasonably apt history of Ska on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ska The jazz and calypso roots are unmistakable on Creation Sounds as is the love of music. Honestly I’m at a small loss for words, but I want to bring you the honest truth (in so far as I perceive it) I’m not as stoked on this as I would be a new MU330 disc, but I’m pretty damn pleased. Support your local ska band ladies and gents, and local or not, support ska by (buy) getting a copy of Creation Sounds new to you from Ruder Than You!

–Jerry Actually

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Loudog hails from Braunschweig, Germany. Formerly known by the less appealing moniker “cumshot”, the band changed names in honor of their appreciation of Sublime and late (Sublime) singer Bradley’s dog. Kito delivers 11 tracks of upbeat roots ska with a bit of punk edge blended in. If I had to draw some comparison I would say that Loudog sounds a lot like a more ska oriented Millencolin. I’d also say they remind me of another band and I’m not sure who it is. I’m gonna go out on a memory loss limb and say that they sound like Umbrella Bed. Prove me wrong. If they do or don’t sound like someone else, what the do sound like is enjoyable. As usual it is refreshing to hear sounds from outside of my continent. Of note, Kito is released under the Creative Commons license. So maybe some enterprising young sound systems can mash some of these tracks into a wicked dub mix, no? It’s your call, but I like it. That said, I would have scored it a higher than a 3/5, but I think some of the tracks could have had a bit more pep.

-Jerry Actually

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Excuse The Blood is a Bay area 3-piece outfit with a pretty eclectic mix of sounds. Without trying to pigeon hole them, they sound like a mix of Slapshot-esque hardcore and a reggae/ska/punk blend ala Op Ivy or perhaps Rudiments. Despite the obvious influence the music feels fresh. The tempo keeps a good pace through the five tracks. That the disc is only a demo perhaps is the biggest shortcoming. Since I don’t have more of a sampling I’m going with a 3/5 instead of possibly higher. I’d like to hear more from Excuse The Blood. Until such time that a new release comes out, you can check the band out at their website www.excusetheblood.com

–Jerry Actually

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Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Bosterdamian group Jaya the Cat deliver a unique fusion of punk, reggae, rock, and ska that took a few listens before it gelled into awesome.  More Late Night Transmissions With… bounces across the Atlantic like Cannabis Cup winning weed followed by a dram of 20 yr barrel aged Glensomething whiskey — oh-so-hazy and smoother than a mo’fo’.

Gravelly-voiced Geoff growls, croons, and skanks his way through this 13+1 track album. With songs ranging from band-on-the-road observations through to political outcries, their lyrics are a potent hit. Grumbly drums, rockin’ guitar, subtly layered bass and flowy keyboards make this fivesome a crafty crew that surely deliver more of a party at their live gigs.

Boston love song “Government Center” struck this ex-Mass girl especially: “The speaker’s blown and the needle’s worn…they say when you leave, you can never go home.”  The jem atop this crown of an album is Jaya’s bonus-track cover of “The Harder They Come”, one of the best I’ve heard.  It’s hard to draw a comparison to other bands, as there aren’t any in Jaya the Cats’s realm. Give them a try if you like Boston punk, reggae, and songs about Amsterdam — you’ll be impressed.

-HK-47

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Set aside special time each day during which you devote your time to this precious record. The Pietasters are back again with their new studio release “Awesome Mix Tape #6″ (out August 3rd on hellcat) What is it about The Pietasters that just grabs my soul and whips it around and won’t let go? I’ll be damned if I can pinpoint it, but something about this seven piece Ska band from DC just makes me feel allright. Ever since I saw them the first time, opening for the Bosstones, I was hooked. They had an intense quality and a drinking Irish East Coast Swagger. None of this is lost on the new release. I have heard a lot of negativity from people after Willis came out, bitching that it wasn’t as good as ooolooloo. Damn them I say, The Pietasters are a brilliant band with amazing musicianship that comes across even better live. On the new release they weave a exciting blend of traditional ska, dub, reggae and soul with the occasional punkesque guitar, combined with clever even if somewhat chauvanistic lyrics. the effect as a whole creates an album not only worthy of the 4 “ups” I gave it, but an album that gets better every time you play it (if your not convinced, refer to the first sentence.)

–Jerry Actually

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Hats off to the new release from Midwest boys done good MU330. I’ve been a fan of these guys since I first saw them in ’93. They’ve gone through quite a few line up changes since the get go, but they keep it up strong. The new release is a crispy ska punk blend with all the dueling trombones you could ever want. Even though Jason (Nelson) isn’t there any more guitarist/vocalist Dan Pothast does an equally good if not better job of putting together and pulling off clever tunes. Visit them on the web at www.mu330.com It’s a damn good cd. Go get it. Out now on Asian Man Records.

–Jerry Actually

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The first impression that I got from this CD was the same as the final impression that it left me with–mediocre. Though this CD was recorded 8 and 7 years earlier than released, it is very possible that they have improved dramatically in their respective projects if at all. There is no place in the insert where you can find out just who is playing what and when (quite possibly for a reason.) This is a combination of two previously released discs, Rabbit Wreaking Havoc (1991) and Another Day (1993.) Thumper just may be Steve Vai does Ska. Definitely a metal overtone to a majority of these songs. The vocalist seems to be struggling a good amount of the time, and the guitars seem to me to be very, very metal (Call me crazy but I like ugly distortion or straight clean guitars.) Their horn section sounds like it just may have been recruited from the local high school’s second chair (although there are a few good arrangements.) As an added bonus, some drunk guy managed to stumble on this CD and scratched the hell out of it making it impossible to review songs 11 through 18. Thanks, but I think I’ll pass on this one.

–Phil Lousy

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Ahoy Ahoy!, These guys are great! they make me happy when ever I listen. “Overboard” the newest offering by Chicago’s Deal’s Gone Bad is an exceptional piece of work. It’s got everything I require in a heavy personal rotation 3rd wave Ska CD. There’s bouncing beats, pumping keys, tasteful vocals and great horns and a touch ‘o comedy ala track 10 “Shiver Me Timber” With a reverence to the past and multi-pint toast to the future Deal’s gone bad puts forth a fresh offering into a recently sagging Ska scene. (notice the journalist like cheesy quotable quip…) never the less, I like this CD a lot and the more I listen to it the more I like it. Remember to go to your local shows too, If you don’t support the shit that you like it will go away.

–Jerry Actually

I thought it would be extra appropriate to re-release this particular review directly after the recent review of the Ska is Dead tour featuring Deal’s Gone Bad. Crazy that ten years have gone by. This disc is still great though.

–Jerry Actually

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