Big D And The Kids Table

Strictly Rude

Written by: PP on 30/03/2007 15:42:19

After a couple of years in recession, the ska scene finally received a facelift in the form of two amazing albums by RX bandits and Catch 22 last year, and it now seems that after the years where bands seemed just to recycle riffs from the golden times, originality is back and ska is making its return as the chosen genre of music for all parties overseas. Big D & The Kids Table is one of these bands that were in slight recession over the years, but their new full length album "Strictly Rude" is a sign that they too are coming back.

Ska has always been associated with high school/college parties due to its upbeatness and happy mood. In the truest spirit of the genre, "Noise Complaint" is ska-punk at its best, drawing its fast upbeat rhythm from punk rock and the bouncy guitars from 3rd wave ska without forgetting some horn solos as well. The track is complete with funny though not silly lyrics, samples of the police knocking on the door and has a great mood throughout. "Steady Riot" is another one of those more guitar-driven ska songs where the beat is so typically ska I don't think anything else could top it. It's a catchy and a fun song, and one of those that will certainly translate through even better live, where it is likely to create skanking-pits throughout the dancefloor.

"Snakebite" shows the slower, more balladic side of ska in the best Sublime-manner. If this song's funky bass lines and slow ska rhythms don't arouse Sublime nostalgia in you, I don't know what will. "Hell On Earth" is a true NOFX-style icebreaker with retardedly hilarious lyrics filled with idiocy and seriousness levels at about minus two hundred and five. "Raw Revolution" is a lot like Reel Big Fish's more vocal-driven songs. Here the instruments merely provide a platform for vocalist McWane to lead the song forward. It's not really a party-song in the same sense as "Breaking The Bottle" (need I tell you what the song is about?), but works well as a contrasting factor alongside the other slow songs. This contrast is also why "Strictly Rude" works better than most albums in the genre, because for every upbeat danceable punk song, there is a slower ballad, and as we all know ballads in ska work about a million times better than in any other genre out there.

"Strictly Rude" is a fun album to listen to, and one of those you aren't afraid to pop on during a party without destroying the mood - in fact, it's more likely to lift the mood than to lower it. You don't need to know the songs to dance along but they catch on easily, and are simply ska the way it should be played. Reel Big Fish fans and NOFX's "So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes"-era fans look this way.

8

Download: Noise Complaint, Snakebite, Steady Riot, Hell On earth
For the fans of: Reel Big Fish, NOFX, Catch 22, RX Bandits, Rancid
Listen: Myspace

Release date 20.03.2007
SideOneDummy

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