The Interrupters - Fight the Good Fight

The Interrupters are an American ska punk band that formed in 2011. Fight The Good Fight (FTGF) is their third album, which was released in 2018, two years after Say It Out Loud.

Title Holder starts off fitting the bill perfectly as an opener catchy. The ska groove is solid, the chord progression adds some texture and the lyrics in verses are nicely rousing. But then the chorus is a bit of a fizzer and somehow the song wears out its welcome towards the end.

In fact, the lyrics a a highlight throughout the album, offering bucketloads of raw emotion and strong visuals. Amongst other things, they lift up the otherwise generic pop-punk ditty So Wrong generic pop-punk ditty into a memorable experience and turn the musically clunky Room With a View into a wonderfully emotive ode to a lost friend. My favourite story on the album is Gave You Everything, which also features grunty verses and a brilliant singalong chorus. A lot of breakup songs feel defeatist to me, so I really enjoy this feelgood energy juxtaposing a bitter tale.

Leap of Faith has strong The Slackers vibes for me (maybe it's the rim shots? or the trombone?). In other words, it's a perfect mix of quirkiness with a solid rocksteady groove. It injects some variety into the album and is a great song in its own right. At the other end of the sophistication scale, Got Each Other is a generic punk-rock ditty; fun but forgettable.

As the exception that proves the rule, Outrage features a wonderfully catchy pop-punk chorus. But the lyrical subject matter is the sad state current media and online discourse... and I listen to ska to get away from that stuff...

Thanks to infectious ska grooves, inspiring lyrics and singalong choruses, She's Kerosene, Broken World, Rumours & Gossip and Be Gone are all heaps fun. I don't have much interesting to say about them, but that shouldn't diminish their virtue whatsoever. One point of interest is that I really dig the half-time breakdown in the bridge and final chorus of She's Kerosene. This song also features subtle backing keyboard and vocals, which work a treat.

Favourite songs

She's Kerosene, Leap of Faith, Broken World, Gave You Everything, Rumours & Gossip, Be Gone, Room With a View

Final thoughts

One might ponder how The Interrupters have developed their artform since their debut album? Well, perhaps some of the rough edges have been smoothed over, but it's mostly another dose of fun ska-punk times. Which suits me to a tee.

Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies

Flogging Molly are an American Celtic-punk band who formed in 1995. Drunken Lullabies is their second album, which was released in 2001.

If you're here for rousing verses, a slight sense of chaos and an uplifting singalong chorus, then What's Left of the Flag delivers in spades. May The Living Be Dead In Our Wake is much of the same goodness, however the chorus doesn't hit quite the same heights. On the plus side, the tin whistle and banjo provide a nice extra dimension. 

Going back to the start, Drunken Lullabies features all of the aforementioned attributes, plus a fantastic chord progression as the shot of Jameson in one's Guinness (sorry, I couldn't resist an Irish cliche at some point in this post...). The result is simply Celtic-punk perfection.

Similar but different are The Kilburn High Road and The Rare Ould Times, drawing more on a chaotic sea-shanty feel. This slight shift helps with the variety of the album and brings its own infectious energy. The instrumental song Swagger is also a fine example of this energy. Finally, the highlight of this grouping is Cruel Mistress, which transports me to a rowdy tavern-glass swinging atmosphere. In particular, the simple chorus works a treat. There's also somehow a 'deconstructed carnival' feel to Cruel Mistress, reminding me of The Dresden Dolls or The Incredible Dead Goons.

If I Ever Leave This World Alive is a ballad featuring an endearingly simple beginning. The song subtly builds through guitars (and spoons...) and drums to a nice crescendo. Later in the album, Death Valley Queen isn't particularly memorable in its own right, but works well as a change-of-pace at its point in proceedings.

Speaking of variety, the riff-based groove of Another Bag of Bricks is toe-tappingly addictive. It's AC/DC like with a mandolin, but not an ounce less swagger and attitude.

The Sun Never Shines on Closed Doors kicks off with a wonderfully understated intro, reminding me of The Eels. And although the scale gently builds with extra layers as the song progresses, the beauty is that the simplicity of the banjo and vocals remains the highlight throughout.

Favourite songs

Drunken Lullabies, What's Left of the Flag, If I Ever Leave This World Alive, Swagger, Cruel Mistress, Another Bag of Bricks, The Rare Ould Times, The Sun Never Shines on Closed Doors

Final thoughts

Easy recipe for instant success: take the stylings of a Celtic folk song and add the deafening fury of a punk-rock band. Such a solid foundation can easily lead to complacence and monotony, but Flogging Molly have a big bag of tricks to make this a wonderful experience from start to finish.

Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell III

This third - and final - instalment in the Bat Out of Hell ("BOOH" from here on) series was released in 2006, thirteen years after Bat Out of Hell II.

Note: a ridiculous album requires a ridiculous review, so here's my best attempt...

Bat Out of Hell isn't just art, it's a scientific development process; the purpose of which is to represent the entire gamut of human emotions in a musical form. As such, it is self-evident that the latest output of this process will always be the greatest. And, despite the album sales being one tenth of its predecessor, this is clearly the case for BOOH III. Looking forward from the present, someday mankind will cryogenically un-freeze Mr Loaf and Mr Steinman, which will inevitably result in them suing each other once again. Once that is out of the way, they will team up for BOOH IV, which will surpass even this masterpiece. However, in the meantime, here are some dissections of this third instalment:

From the very start of The Monster Is Loose, the instrumentals are much improved over BOOH II, where the appeal was mostly in the poetry of the lyrics (or it's also possible that I just prefer a more modern rock sound). The sound is very different to the earlier albums, but it adds to the huge sense of scale is huge and the passion of the lyrics. Also, it flows perfectly through contrasting sections, which is a BOOH hallmark.

The power-ballad Blind As A Bat has quite an early 1990s feel (but each BOOH album has been a bit retro for its time... perfecting a style can't be rushed...). The piano riff is wonderfully carried through from the intro, and is supported brilliantly by the strings. As for the song title... what a lyric! The lyrics throughout the song are fantastic, a classic Meat Loaf masterpiece of both imagery and humility.

It's All Coming Back To Me Now features a beautiful piano melody, which perfectly leads into the vocals. Then the interplay between the vocalists is amongst the finest duets I've ever heard. Now for a very bold statement: this song eclipses even I'd Do Anything For Love. I'm not trying to be a contrarian here; due to Kaizen, it's a simple scientific fact.

"The sea is up in the sky, the sky is up in the sea". Never has a nonsensical phrase been so emotive and prophetic. In fact, I could quote almost all of Bad For Good's lyrics, since they're all brimming with imagery and/or emotion. The instrumental arrangements more than carry their weight too, with an incredible build-up and momentum. Despite the sections often being stylistically quite different, the transitions are completely seamless. It's almost like a medley of about 8 different songs (as it should be, at over 7 minutes long...), all perfectly stitched together. 

With hindsight, it feels like Everything Louder Than Everything Else (from BOOH II) was merely a early prototype of Bad For Good, and the latter also incorporates a "checklist section" drawing on the lessons from Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back. If you can accept, without irony, that "for the good of one hell of a night" is the ultimate climax to a crescendo, then you're a true Meat Loaf connoisseur/addict. 

Cry Over Me is a bit bland, both musically and lyrically. However, it provides good variety towards the middle of the album. And clearly its mediocrity was added to this album so that we may better appreciate the other songs...

In The Land Of The Pig, The Butcher Is King is a mixed bag, but also one of my favourite songs. Something isn't right about the musical arc, so it feels like a wind-up that gets repeated with minimal variation, thereby wearing out its welcome by the 5-minute mark. But the song title is irreverent brilliance, and often I find myself singing that line in my head for a while afterwards. Adding to the tongue-in-cheek appeal is the sound of the braying pigs at the end of the song. Brilliant!

Like a good reggae-dub song, Alive feels so natural in how it adapts its form over time, making the minutes evaporate as a single pleasurable blur. This is motivational-poster stadium rock at its finest.

If God Could Talk is another epic power ballad. As per the song title, it's simultaneously ridiculous and deeply meaningful. The instrumentals provide great direction and structure, but the real star is the lyrics. Tortured, complex, beautiful lyrics.

Yes, If It Ain't Broke is very cheesy... even by Meat Loaf standards. The sharp breaks seems a bit contrived to me, but otherwise its fun headbanging rock. Infectious rock-funk groove? Check. Singalong chorus? Check. Job done.

What About Love's highlights are a great piano motif (which holds the song together brilliantly) and a truly inspiring chorus. It's perfect rock-opera, with a narrative that spans a lifespan.

Seize The Night has an interesting orchestral opening full of pomp, however it's a bit disjointed until it breaks out into that epic guitar riff. From then on, it features a fantastic driving energy, up until... well... in theory, arresting all that momentum for the pianissimo choir sections should completely undermine the flow of the song. But the genius is that somehow it doesn't. Then, as it winds up again, it transforms into a glorious amalgamation of rock band, orchestra and choir.

The Future Ain't What It Used To Be feels like the album is beginning to wind down, with nothing too strenuous on display here. Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable way to spend 8 minutes. Then things come to an end with Cry To Heaven, a nice lullaby to cap off an epic day.

Favourite songs

This experience isn't about mere concepts such as songs, it's far more important than that...