Area 7- Bitter & Twisted

Bitter & Twisted is Area-7's debut album and the follow-up to the Bitter Words single. It was released in 2000, strangely almost a year after the single was released. Since Bitter Words had whet my appetite for this mysterious "ska" phenomenon, the album was keenly anticipated by me at the time.

Aside from Bitter Words and Let Me Down, many many of the songs have a major gripe for me: an awful kick-drum sound is awful. There's a lot of "slapping" sound to it, which I can't stand. The rest of the recording is pretty good: nice horn lines, bouncy keyboard and tongue-in-cheek grunty guitar. The lyrics are often poignant social commentaries, although for some reason they have lost their "bite" for me over the years.

Start Making Sense, Dodgy Mate, Himbo and Big Ben continue the style set by Bitter Words, and the cover of Boys Don't Cry is a great fast-tempo version.

As for the slower songs, the reggae song Blind is very awkward. Skin Deep hold together much better and builds up nicely throughout the song.  Walk Away is one of my favourite songs, due to the interesting "slow motion" drums in the chorus.

Finally, Unsrung Hero and Second Class Citizen have their moments as angsty ska-rock anthems, but somehow I don't think they resonate any more. While the highly stylised cartoon feel and slick production was light-hearted fun  back in the day, I think it undermines the songs because they start to feel like throwaway pop ditties.

Favourite songs

Bitter Words, Start Making Sense, Himbo, Let Me Down, Big Ben

Would I buy it again?

That terrible "slapping" kick-drum sound is pretty much a deal-breaker on its own! Actually, this album was a key step in my discovery of ska, so I have much to thank it for. But, at the end of the day, my tastes have moved on.