With No Doubt, Save Ferris, Fabulous Disaster and co. leading a girl-vocal war on the punk scene, Elyse Rogers and the Dance Hall Crashers throw their two-penneth into the ring with the ska-punk opus, 'Purr.'
Personally I'm not a big fan of girl vocals in punk rock. I know that is an incredibly sexist thing to say, but it often doesn't float my boat. However, although Elyse's vox may well be an acquired taste, the Dance Hall Crashers do possess a decent sound, and have some cracking songs and you cannot fault that. But for every one great song, there's one average, or in some cases, godawful one.
'Beverly Kills' is both a great play on words and a great song, whilst 'Make Her Purr,' has the best ska moment on the entire album, even if the lyrics (which are pretty dire throughout) are a bit strange. 'Nothing Left To Say' is pretty cool, dropping the pace of the record slightly, whilst maintaing strands of ska. 'Wont Be The Same' and 'Cat Fight' are both good, especially the latter which is a big shining light. The album ends with 'Cricket,' which has nothing to do with leather on willow. Instead it is a glorious ballad (yeah, I know that's not a 'punk' thing to say...) but a great closer nonetheless.
But there are some pretty terrible moments too. 'Just Like That' is, erm, just not good, and 'Setting Sun' is just plain poor. 'Remember To Breathe' sounds like half of the album that's already been played, and the intro to 'Do You Think You're Beautiful' IS the Mighty Mighty Bosstones' 'The Impression That I Get.' Oh, and the rest of the song blows. Big time.
'Purr' is produced by NOFX's Fat Mike, and although there isn't any obvious NOFX influence, it definetly has that Fat Wreck sound; produced and polished, but not overly so. Karina's dual harmonies with Elyse also give the sound that extra something.
A great record for cruising around in the sun, but not so great on a cold winters day in Bognor. Also avoid if you don't like ska, cos there's plenty here, and it's not all good...
Paul Savage
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