outh Coast Beach Ball Ska Core eh? It’s a new one to say the least. As you can probably guess from the freshly coined genre, WEAPONS OF BRASS DESTRUCTION ply their trade with well, lots of brass and fast upstrokes. But are they doing anything particularly different to warrant a new genre? Blunt answer; not really.
So looking past the interesting self description, what does this five track release sound like? Well, what we have here is nothing particularly new, or indeed too exciting. However, when ska is played well, it always lifts my mood and that it has done; no complaints there. Intro track, ‘El-Ska-Dorado’, provides a short yet effective opener before the edgier and harder riff at the beginning of ‘Kapow’ hits you before flicking back into ska mode; a transition which is frequent across all the tracks.
WOBD are certainly at their best on this E.P when they’re sticking at the ska as opposed to the harder, more aggressive moments; mainly because there’s just more character on show on the ‘ska’ bits but also because the production just doesn’t seem to hold up on the ‘punkier’ bits, especially the snare drum which sounds just plain awful at times. I’d go as far as to say when the band sound more pissed off and even a tad political on some tracks, (‘Bulldozers on the Playground’) they can sound like another band entirely. It certainly doesn’t paint the image of sand, ice cream and beach balls on Worthing beach anyway.
WOBD are clearly a talented band, some of the horn-lines are damn clever and the bass solo on ‘Get Your Ska Outta My Drive’ is fantastic. It would seem from this handful of songs that WOBD are at a musical crossroads and seem unsure which route to take, for example to further explore the heavier ska-core lane or the lighter horn fuelled happy ska avenue. But although this E.P sounds a little disjointed in places and the production lets it down at times, it shows a lot of talent.
Mike
www.beachball-skacore.com
