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.