I just got back from work and I still reek of grease and lettuce, so this is gonna be a short one.
I like Mustard Plug. I like Fugazi. I like Bomb the Music Industry. I don't like Pavement. I like when bands I like make new recordings. I sort of liked this record.
Okay, a bit short, but honestly, that's maybe the best way I can describe this record. Featuring Mustard Plug's cover of Fugazi's "Waiting Room" (one of my favorite songs of all time) and Bomb the Music Industry's rendition of "Gold Soundz" by Pavement, this album features the confusing odd mix of '90s alternative and modern ska. I honestly don't know how to comment on two famous ska bands covering two famous alternative bands, so I'm going to have to pussyfoot around deep musical ideas and just rate the quality of the covers.
And there's a lot of quality in the first song, that's for sure. Mixing some Reggae beats into hardcore was Fugazi's idea of a cool music project, and along with bands like Operation Ivy, they were able to form the blueprint of modern ska, influencing countless punkers who wanted to play music that they could enjoy and dance to at the same time. Given this, it would only make sense that Mustard Plug, one of today's biggest ska bands would pay tribute to the progenitors of what is considered to be the modern ska style. The influence is readily apparent, as no matter how hard they may try by adding horns and a more danceable beat with less of a hardcore intensity, the song doesn't really sound too much different with the change of performers. This is not a bad thing, though. The cover is a great mash-up of different eras of the same genre. It keeps its hard-rocking hardcore roots, but the horns and lighter atmosphere ask that you use your feet to tap along to the beat instead of try to kick that kid in the mosh pit with your studded steel-tipped boots. It's a fun track and the conviction of Mustard Plug to rock and have a good time will get you head-banging and skanking at the same time. A good listen from beginning to end. Also, I'd definitely like to see more modern ska with a hard-rocking edge these days, though I don't think too many people will realize the genius of my Streetlight Manifesto/Minor Threat mash-up ideas.
The second track is definitely something I'm lukewarm about, unfortunately. Though Bomb the Music Industry! is one of my favorite bands these days, I just can't get into their cover of Pavement's "Gold Soundz." The problem is that save for a few tracks, I haven't really heard any Pavement influence in BTMI's albums. This shows (or more accurately, doesn't show) in the cover, because it sounds almost nothing like the original. They took a boring alternative song, and just changed it into boring, meandering ska song. I've listened to the whole track maybe six or seven times, but I always trance out around the one minute mark and don't notice until the song is over, and the playlist just hits repeat and sends me back into Mustard Plug's track. Maybe I'm wrong and don't appreciate, but the track is just too boring for me to review. There doesn't feel like there's any soul or artistic investment, the ska-influenced musical meandering is tedious, and for once in his life, Jeff Rosenstock even sounds like he's bored out of his mind, trying to croon then snapping awake with an occasional yell. Overall, I just really don't know what to say other than I didn't like it.
This is definitely a mixed bag. I'm a big fan of Mustard Plug and its cover. I could comfortably recommend that track to any followers of ska, punk, Mustard, or Fugazi. I'm also a big fan of Bomb the Music Industry, but I really can't get into their cover, so I don't really know who to recommend it to. I don't like Pavement or their original all that much, so I guess a Pavement fan may find more enjoyment in it than I can. Even then, I couldn't even think of who to recommend BTMI's "Gold Soundz" to.
Click on the pic at the top of the review to see this album and others, and listen to samples of all of the songs.
No comments:
Post a Comment