(c) 2008 Sorry About Your Couch
[rating: 3.75/5]
In a world where you bust your ass somewhere around 20/7 (a fella’s got to sleep sometime) you occasionally get the reviews out a little late. I have a serious stack of material in my inbox, so without further adieu, here is Sorry About You Couch. Hailing from the darkest depths of Central Wisconsin and the home of Point Special Beer comes some rude young lads and their new album Greeen! (Though the mailing address on the back is listed as Wisconsin Dells they claim to be from Stevens Point) No matter which place they are from, I spent plenty of my youth in both of those towns and though it was many years ago, I never expected much out of either area musically. Fortunately for me, time or fate has intervened and saw fit to send this disc to my door. SAYC is a raw blend of punk and roots. Frankly they remind me of Rudiments. The sound is a bit on the lofi side, but the raw nature of the tracks only serves to amplify the angst of youth. But what you get is 14 tracks and a bonus one. Running from raw rock to ska punk while trading verses like throwing around the ol’ pigskin, Greeen! makes for a good listen. Incidentally, with an album name like this, I really expected more overt stoner-rasta content. Not that is absent mind you, I just expected more. On another note, there is a cuddly green monster on the cover that appears to be destroying Toronto. I’d like to provide a slightly more in depth analysis, however I am beat. Sufficed to say that if you like the 3rd wave a bit more to the punk side then odds are fair you’ll like Sorry About Your Couch.
–Jerry Actually
I have to start by telling you that I've been anticipating this release for quite some time and because I'm a fan, this may come across as a bit biased. For the unaware among us, Slackness is a collaborative project between Chris Murray and The Slackers. I'll have to admit I was taken a bit by surprise with Slackness. I wasn't sure what to expect, so let me tell you what I got. 12 great tracks of the heart and soul of ska. The recording offers up a smorgasboard of ska reggae and roots, some old and some new. Slackness starts with a great cover of "Janie Jones" and into a more traditional Chris sounding track that appears to be co-written with Dan Potthast of Mu330 fame. (admittedly I'm assuming here based on the writing credits.) The CD continues into a few remakes of older Chris songs with the added twist of being backed by The Slackers, one of the hardest working bands in ska today. I particularly enjoy "Rastaman Rock", a tuffed up version of the original. The tracks close with a ironically upbeat war protest song entitled, "Why We Go To War". I guess this is like the magical moment when someone got their peanut butter on someone else's chocolate. If you've ever wondered what Chris would sound like backed up by a full band of the caliber of the Slackers, give Slackness a whirl. Out now on Unstrictly Roots In closing, you can tell that Chris Murray is totally OG … Check that freakin' bling homie!