Crazy Monkey Woman kicks things off with a bang. Raucus and chaotic, it isn't so much a song, as a bold opening statement. While the horn lines don't really stand out, I really dig the rawness of the delivery, and that they perfectly complement the song. The standout feature, though, is the gravelly lyrics, delivered with lashings of venom.
Fat Sack takes the fury of Crazy Monkey Woman, cranks up the tempo and adds a touch more oi-punk. The result is stupid... Stupidly fun. A great song for moshpit slamming.
On the other hand, Out All Night is every bit as smooth as, say, Buck-O-Nine's "My Town". A gentle running bassline, catchy horn line, nice singalong chorus; it's all the same ingredients. Rather than matching saccharine lyrics, though, Out All Night's are wonderfully dark and nonsensical. Refer to Exhibit A: "when you cry it smells like soup"! It is this obscurity and edginess that makes the song a favourite for me.
Ocean's cruise-ship style (is that even a thing?!) injects some nice variety into the album, although it's not a particularly memorable song for me in its own right.
Recording quality? Best give that treble knob a twist anti-clockwise, my friend. I don't often consider albums to be sibilant, but this one is just too much. Once tempered so, it's highly enjoyable, with a punchy yet characterful sound.
Soul and punk-rock sounds like a strange combination, but it works a treat for Stone Feeling. All the glitter and showy brass makes the of the lyrics arrogance even better. Very "in your face", in a good way. However, the ending is very strange indeed.
This approach is also successfully used on the cover of Time Won't Let Me, although I do find its chorus to be a bit of a letdown somehow.
Higher is pretty much a generic reggae song. However, it is well executed, and The Pietaster's trademark gravelly lyrics makes it enjoyable for me.
Yet another genre thrown into the pot is calypso, for Without You. And, again, the result is brilliant. Wonderfully ironic lyrics, a catchy beat and great horn lines make this a great song I reckon.
The drum beat and bassline of Crime is brilliantly infectious. It's so good that even as the song fades out, you just wish it could go on forever. The lyrics treat the listener to the unique and slightly disturbed perspective, which is a hell of a journey. Like Camus' "The Stranger", the slight madness makes for beautiful poetry and is a brilliant reminder that "unconventional" emotions are no less legitimate. By the way, I'm condoning mothers filming suicides (the first line of the lyrics). On a less philosophical note, the horns fit perfectly (avoiding sounding too "happy"), the tortured hammond organ sound is superb, and the bells make a nice touch. This is an all-time favourite song of mine.
Bitter also uses the soul/punk-rock mix to good effect. In particular, the subdued verses work nicely to further amplifies the already huge chorus. And the xylophone is great touch!
The cover of New Breed is too stop-start for my liking. Moment finishes things off with a nice vintage ska sound.
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