Melbourne Ska Orchestra - Sierra Kilo Alpha

Sierra Kilo Alpha is the Melbourne Ska Orchestra's second album. It was released in 2016, three years after their self-titled debut album.

To touch on recording quality... well it's a tough asking shepherding a plethora of barely-in-control musicians (which is what I love about their live gigs) into something coherent sounding. And largely they've done a good job, with all the instruments intelligible and well balanced. Minor quibble are that I wish the kick-drum had some more low-end weight to it, and the horn sounds in Escher and Vesper Ska strangely sound like some kind of Church Mode on a 1990s stereo amplifier.

Speaking of Escher, it works well as a funky bouncing opener, but it isn't at all memorable for me. Having said that, its pre-chorus is a highlight. Bombay Detective follows a similar recipe, but with a much nicer horn sound (good bite to the sax's, especially the baritone) and trading some reggae intricacy for a more phatter rocksteady groove. The result is a showcase of all the great abilities and tricks of the orchestra.

Sans Humanite is a fun little tale of the three vocalists ribbing each other. The horn sound isn't exactly to my liking, but that pales into insignificance given the infectious melody being featured. The icing on the cake is the contrast between the mento-esque verses and the bouncing ska chorus.

The screaming horns and fat groove are a wonderful combination in Funkchunk. It adds nicely to the variety of the album, and the punchy big-band funk/rocksteady is very enjoyable in its own right.

Next up is probably my favourite song on the album, even though it doesn't really play to the band's strengths. Nothing in the Well features brilliantly poignant lyrics (like The Slackers' Prophet) and a great infectious chorus. The arrangement is quite restrained and simple rocksteady, which leaves much of the band sitting around under-utilised. But this restraint and simplicity allows the important bits to cut through, resulting in a wonderful song.

On the other hand, Satellite shows the band at their chaotic best, with vocal/instrumental cameos jumping in and out. It can sometimes feel disjointed (not a problem during the live shows), but I completely dig the barely-controlled madness.

Special Thing features a nicely Get Smart feel, with cool percussion parts and a nice rocksteady groove. Then Vespa Ska takes us into a very traditional 2-tone style, to finish with some fun, bouncy goodness.

Lastly, the album comes with a pair of 3D glasses, which is ridiculous and fantastic.

Favourite songs

Sans Humanite, Bombay Detective, Nothing in the Well, Slyboots, Special Thing, Satellite, Vespa Ska

I diggit?

This album has a huge handicap in that listening to the album makes me really want to see them live again... unfortunately even the world's best recording can't compare to that wonderfully mad experience of their live shows.

That's probably the reason for this CD spending spent most of its life sitting on my shelf unloved, but in revisiting it for this review I actually enjoyed it far more than I expected to. So I would definitely recommend it as one of the finest examples in the (very niche) genre of orchestral ska.

Electric Six - Fire

This is Electric Six's debut album, which was released in 2003.

Does anyone remember the flash-in-the-pan single Gay Bar? A bit of a novelty song, its lyrics provided an intellectual exploration of activities one could undertake at a queer drinking establishment:

Let's start a war,
Start a nuclear war.
At the gay bar, gay bar.

and

I've got something to put in you...
At the gay bar, gay bar.

So a while back I purchased this album, put it on the shelf and forgot about it.

The album covers quite a range of the rock landscape, and the recording style is also varied to a surprising degree. On some songs, the bass sounds are lacking and a bit muddy. However everything else is consistently praiseworthy throughout the album: a good mix of vocals, guitars, bass and percussion, all sounding nice.

Dance Commander kicks things off with solid yet unmemorable instrumentation, but is elevated to greatness by wonderfully irreverent lyrics. Now that they're warmed up, Electric Demons in Love adds an infectious groove to the mix, with fantastic results. I would probably be saying similar about Naked Pictures (of Your Mother), however I'm a bit prudish and find the song's title quite off-putting.

As an example of the very different recording styles mentioned earlier, Danger! High Voltage drops some deep thumping bass. And the cherry on top is lyrics such as "Fire in the... Taco Bell". And a sax solo!!

The next song, <breaks the 4th wall> errr, actually, I can't be bothered trying to write words any more, I just wanna enjoy these tunes instead. To wrap things up, special mentions go to 

• Improper Dancing for its great disco-rock groove, fantastic title, non-sequitur bridge and the highly amusing "Stop. Continue." instructions.
• I'm the Bomb for its disco groove cranked up to eleven (especially the tease of the chorus in the intro) and contrast of the verses.
• Synthesizer for its infectious groove (somehow reminding me of the film Napoleon Dynamite) and the profound universal truth of its lyrics.

Favourite songs

Dance Commander, Electric Demons in Love, Danger! High Voltage, I Invented the Night, Gay Bar, Vengeance and Fashion, I'm the Bomb, Synthesizer

I diggit?

This album sits somewhere between early Franz Ferdinand and The Hives. In other words, perfection.

Superjesus - Rock Music

Rock Music is The Superjesus' third album. It was released in 2003, three years after Jet Age.

... And therein lies a strange situation for me. Jet Age is one of my all-time favourite albums, however it feels quite unrelated to the rest of the band's discography. I find Jet Age more sophisticated than Rock Music, so it's quite strange to realise that Rock Music is actually the later album.

To start with the audio quality, some songs use a lot of stereo effects to position instruments very wide. This works a treat on speakers, but on headphones it can leave the centre of the image feeling a bit empty. Perhaps a related issue is that the bass guitar is often hollow sounding and indistinct. On the bright side, the vocals sound wonderful- crisp and delicate but also with a nicely husky edge, and great use of chorus effects.

I suppose that Shudder fulfils its role as an opener, but I find it a bit wall-of-noise. The style of it is similar to Magic Dirt (plus probably a thousand other late-grunge bands with male vocalists, but unfortunately my mind pigeonholes songs based on the number of chromosomes for the lead singer).

On the other hand, Stick Together is a highlight thanks to its wonderfully catchy chorus. Simple and formulaic, but highly enjoyable pop-rock. And then Let it Go strikes a wonderful middle ground between the styles of the aforementioned, thanks to heavier verses punctuated by a gloriously infectious chorus. I was going to complain about the distorted vocal effect used in verses, although maybe it makes the clean vocals in the chorus more enjoyable by contrast.

Over & Out and Bodies for Breaking are further evidence for a "no chorus, no care" theory, with the former having a great chorus and therefore being highly enjoyable. Bodies for Breaking does not and is not. Unfortunately the drums are quite distorted... another victim of the noughties "loudness war", dammit.

Whinge time... Medication is generic riff-rock with uninspiring vocals and a chorus somehow lacking sparkle. The opening line of Closer strongly reminded me of a hit sung by a Scottish lady: "And if it makes..." ... you happy, perhaps? (i.e. Garbage). Unfortunately this song certainly does not. It is a collection of solid musical elements, shoehorned together very awkwardly.

To end on a positive note, These Dreams is a wonderful exception to the "no chorus no care" theory. I really dig its industrial/sparse mood. Also bringing the variety is Manic which has a nice build-up and use of minor chords in the pre-chorus. It's a good change of pace in the middle of the album, and quite enjoyable in its own right.

 

Favourite songs

Stick Together, Let it Go, These Dreams, Over & Out, Manic

I diggit?

My expectations were quite low for this album, but it turns out to have grown on me. Some people might look down on the "don't bore us, get to the chorus" approach (thanks, Roxette!), but I enjoyed 50% of this album, so that's a pass in my book.