Good Clean Fun Records - Know Your Skalphabet, Various Artists
Many compilation records claim to be the "soundtrack to your life". The vast majority fail. In "Know Your Skalphabet", Good Clean Fun records have made no such claims, but have succeeded in creating a record that just oozes pure cool, easily stealing the title from any would-be contenders.
With records pending reviewing stacking up here at Punktastic, we don't have the luxury of allowing a single record to monopolize the hi-fi completely, but ever since it arrived in the mail this disc has never been far from it. Potshot kick off the proceedings with "time", and is a perfect example of the quality contained within.
Strong vocals and clear, crisp brass section provide a great opener, and lead in nicely to The Telegraph's "My Friends Back Home Would Understand", with its eminently sing-a-longable chorus.
Five Iron Frenzy slow it down with "Ugly Day", with its slightly upbeat yet laid back lilt contrasting well with the girl-breaks-heart style lyrics. It's a track that works really well, one of those tracks that it's just plain impossible not to tap your feet to. "Something Good" from Jefferies Fan Club brings the pace back up again, laying some great brass over a tightly meandering bass line and catchy chorus; again the impression is of a highly polished track that radiates effortless charm.
We're now up to track five and so far it's been one top notch track after another - surely it's time for a bit of filler? On lesser compilations this’d probably be the case, but Good Clean Fun seem to have a plethora of great tracks hidden up their sleeves. Racer 10's "Never Change", although veering further towards traditional pop-punk rather than ska, still manages to throw a guitar hook that keeps your attention right the way through. The high quality continues through Dow Jones & The Industrials "Ten" and The Freeze's "Mental Defective", creating a precedent that holds throughout the rest of the record. Massachusetts favourites Big D & The Kids Table supply "She won't ever figure it out", and as is usual it's sharp, clever and above all a damn good tune. Following a performance such as that is never easy, but it's something that Bristol-based Kenisia manage without even breaking sweat. "X-ray specs” has a less upbeat tone than its predecessors, but still contains darkly humorous lyrics, a chorus of “I’ve got my X-ray specs, you’ve got no underwear” must appeal to some part of the subconscious because everyone who hears it affords themselves a wry smile.
The Cheapskates are next up, and supply “You still owe me twelve pence”, taken from their self-released “The Wrong Arm of the Law” EP, a cheeky little number with some great lyrics – “For someone who’s this smart you’re really dense, you still owe me twelve pence” – guaranteed to make you laugh out loud and instantly brighten up all but the darkest of days. At this point we’re at track eleven, and we’ve had nothing but five star material straight through. It’s at this post that Sinkhole let the side down slightly – “Anything and everything” isn’t a bad tune, but given the present company it sticks out like a sore thumb. Droning and ever-so-slightly average, it’s easily forgotten and often skipped. Thankfully it doesn’t take long for the disc to find its feet, The T.V. Crime Fighters see to that with “Feet don’t fail me now”. Bursting out from the start with a raw guitar riff / brass combo leading to a more traditional ska-style verse, the band revert to the previous style for the chorus to create a powerful, strong track that does a fine job of pointing the compilation back in the right direction. Orangetree and The Alcoskalics tracks don’t disappoint, and Softball’s “Foreign Land” has a slightly trashy sound that sits well in the middle of so much well-polished stuff.
“Plug it in” is the USCB Allstar’s tribute to the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and slows the flow of the disc right down to near walking pace. It’s a fine tune, but it’s just a tad too long for track that’s so similar all the way through – 6 minutes is a little excessive for a track that could be done in 4. As is so often the case with this disc, however, not a moment is wasted as the No Hope Wunders respond with “Loser”. Unimaginatively titled it may be, but the main and backing vocals combine well to produce a layered sound that’s catchy and great fun to listen to. The Rayguns do a similarly good job with “Another love song”, whilst the slightly odd “Don’t make me laugh” from Manchester’s Grimace is all well and good, but isn’t going to set the world alight. Namesake 4:20 answer with “Icadaver”, probably the stand out track from the latter part of the disc, despite containing a tried-and-tested (read: overused) chord progression for part of the chorus. First Grade Crush and Sweet Tooth offerings aren’t quite up to the standard of some of the better stuff available, but pass without serious complaint, and Pain round of the experience with “Gavin”, bringing the disc to a satisfying conclusion.
So we come to the part where I tell you if you should buy this disc or not. If you have worked it out yourself yet I’ll spell it out: BUY THIS DISC. Currently available from the label (www.goodcleanfunrecords.co.uk) for only £5 (around $8) including p&p within the UK, missing out on this would be a very bad decision; very bad indeed. For such a lowly sum you get to experience some of the best ska the world has to offer, and is absolutely spot-on for the dedicated ska fan, newly-converted and curious alike. There’s not many records that I come back to time and time again, but this is proving to be one of the fabled few.
We await the sequel with baited breath…
Dan
