Did I, or did I not promise you lot the review of the new Spankboy EP within days? I keep my promises, and it's nothing to do with going to only 2 hours of lectures at uni and being more than a tad bored. Anyway, on with the show!
The somewhat boisterous intro to this review is thanks in no small part to the quality of this entire EP. I know I go on about Spankboy endlessly but I truly believe that they're absolutely awesome. And with this, their first release on MoonSka and first new material for quite a while I was very glad to hear they didn't disappoint at all. Two brand new tracks coupled with two old favourites from 'Adventures In Blue Flash' are on this 4 CD, and are they any good? Hell. Yes.
Opener Set It Off is a newie and comes in like Less Than Jake making mad love to the Mad Caddies while listening to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. And no, that's not an image which comes about often. It's just so chirpy and cheerful, with a full brass section of sax, trumpet and trombone soaring with one of the best ska lines I've ever heard. It's become a live favourite already, what with the verses being framed by choruses which are followed by yet another superb horn interlude. Paul's guitar playing is possessed by the spirit of Jeff Hanneman for a brief moment, with a hard metal riff falling into yet another sublime bridge then ending with an singalong chorus. The SB time bomb is about to explode and with this good-time track for the masses you can see why.
Next up is 'Perfect Day' taken from the recent album. It's a taste of standard Spankboy - nothing special musically but it's the lyrics which make this song so good. It's simplistic in its nature, a paean to the sheer happiness that being in the band brings. Pretty short too, but in my opinion that's a good thing because the sooner 'Tongue Tied' hits the better!
The second track to be culled from '...Blue Flash' is the frankly brilliant 'Tongue Tied'. With another brass tinged opening making way for a chugging guitar-led verse with the dual vocals of John and Tim adding a sense of depth to the proceedings. It's worth noting how good the sound quality is on this recording, compared to the sometimes scratchy nature of earlier releases this is crisp, clear and the sound quality the 'boy deserve!
The final track is another new song, 'Summer Nights' by name and catchy ska-punk by nature. It's more guitar-based than other songs, with a playful horn line letting the riffage take over at times. It has a Sublime feel to it during the verses, laid back and chilled before descending into a chorus genetically modified to get YOU (yes YOU with the big shorts) pogoing. "Here we go again" goes the chorus - I certainly hope so.
It's only 4 tracks, and only 2 of them are new. But it's a brilliant EP with 4 quality songs and if you don't own '...Blue Flash' then I strongly advise picking this up as the album is almost sold out. It might seem like I rant on endlessly about a band who've only just got signed and are still in the process of completing their highest profile tour so far, but there's a reason. They're absolutely awesome. Trust me.
