Only the Mad Cads could come up with a pirate themed record and be able to pull it off with such spectacular results. A band that isn’t afraid to do things that other bands would only dream about, the Mad Caddies have produced an album that deserves to sell a shedload, and give them the recognistion that they surely will eventually receive.
2000’s ‘The Holiday Has Been Cancelled’ EP gave us a glimpse of what was to come, but even the most die-hard Mad Caddies fan could not have expected ‘Rock The Plank’ to be this good. It is simply brilliant.
It’s never easy to simply throw a genre at the band, because each song veers off into different areas so much. ‘Mary Melody’ is pretty much classic Caddies, whilst ‘B-Side’ and ‘Easy Cheese’ are pop-punk nuggets of gold that beg to be played at full volume on a hot summers day. ‘Depleted Salvo’ even sounds like it could have fitted on the new Propagandhi record.
‘Days Away‘ is a song to chill to with a beer in one hand and spliff in the other (if you’re that way inclined), whilst in contrast, ‘Bridges’ is much more aggressive and uptempo. The wonderfully named ‘We’ll Start To Worry When The Cynics Start Believing’ is the band at its skankiest.
The accordion rules the roost during the pirate themed ‘Weird Beard’ and ‘All American Badass,’ and while the idea of a skanking pirate sounds completely ridiculous, yep, you guessed it, the Caddies pull it off without any trouble.
Featuring the usual mix of ska-tinged horns and chunky punk riffs, Fat Wreck’s finest have given us 37 minutes of sunshine on CD. Chuck’s distinctive vocals make this a modern punk classic, and an album that will become the soundtrack to the summer. Buy it now!
Paul Savage