Court Jester's Crew - Too High For Low

This is the second album from ska/reggae band Court Jester's Crew. It was released in 2000, three years after Umbe. The album feels more like a cross-genre compilation than a typical album, so strap yourselves in folks for this musical mystery flight...

Double Engine kicks things off with a manic, barely-controlled instrumental style, up there with the best of Secret Agent 8 or NY Ska-Jazz Ensemble.

Things then settle into a phat groove for the up-tempo rocksteady style of Danger. The lyrics are quite vague on why this man is particularly dangerous, but it's easy to tune them out and gently bounce along to the groove. This approach is also recommended for the feelgood ska song that is Remember. Its strange narrative is something about being too stoned to remember a date with his girlfriend, but true love prevails. Hmmm... strange. Anyways, best not pay attention to the words and just enjoy the nice horn line and groove. (As an aside, somehow the opening reminds me of Reel Big Fish's She Has a Girlfriend Now).

 

Shake a Leg takes us into a wonderfully solid dub/reggae grove. As another strange musical quote, the chord progression always makes me think of Ring of Fire, especially when the horns take the melody. Bomber is very similar, but somehow fails to resonate with me. Later on, Bikini Revolution has a similar feel to Bomber but with a slightly faster tempo. It tells the tale of horny German Rastafarians... what a strange combination! I've no idea what the contention of the lyrics is, but it's a catchy song and I'm a big fan.

 

Every single aspect of Have You Seen My Girl is brilliant IMHO. This modern style of rocksteady features an infectious groove, great lyrics and nice sharp breaks. There are lots of abrupt changes, but the song never feels disjointed (aside from a slight grumble about the unnecessary ending). And the sprinklings of hammond organ are the icing on the cake.

The frantic high-energy Latin style of Big Boss is an oddball classic. It defies description for me, but I like it ummm... heaps.

Elevator Offbeat nice understated reggae-dub. Yes, it is 'elevator music', but I'd be happy to listen to this song any time I'm in an elevator!

Take I by the Hand starts off with a wonderfully understated style and a Hammond organ just oozing class. The way it gently builds up to a high-energy ska song is fantastic. The lyrics end up being quite bleak in an English fashion (ala The Specials) but the ska instrumentals makes this easy to overlook and just enjoy the music.

A Skatelites style is being channelled in Feel the Spirit. While not being a standout, it's enjoyable and provides some nice contrast to the album.

Spy's World speaking of standout, this is an absolute cracker. Wonderful horn line and energy. I also really enjoy the twists and turns of the storytelling. This song is the reason I bought the album but the song actually took me surprise when I dusted off the CD and started playing it. On a personal note, I could have sworn the song was by another band, someone like Secret Agent 8. Anyway, the bottom line is that it's one of my all-time favourite ska songs.

 

The two remaining songs (Dirks Lied and Good 'n' Morgan Horn) aren't worth writing home about, so let's leave things here.

Favourite songs

Double Engine, Danger, Shake a Leg, Have You Seen My Girl, Big Boss, Bikini Revolution, Elevator Offbeat, Take I by the Hand, Spy's World

I diggit?

Very much. This is a wonderful sampler of the various sub-genres of ska, with a few other styles thrown in at times for good measures.