Mark Foggo has apparently been making music for 30 years. Haven’t heard of him? Not all that surprising. You have to go on to the Dutch version of Wikipedia before you can even find an entry relating to him, and his own website tends to be a tad sketchy. ‘Mad’ is the latest in a long line of releases by the now European based Liverpudlian, and to be honest, it’s more than a little odd.
Musically the album is a bit hit and miss. Foggo is mainly known as a ska man but other influences show through here. ‘Rotten to the Core’ has a rockabilly flavour; ‘Sugarlover’ has a soul element to it (not dissimilar to the last Big D record); ‘Cybergirl’ (a bizarre track for sure) has an electronica aspect that puts Bowie into mind; whilst ‘Watch That Clock’ harks back to the days of The Buzzcocks and Ian Drury. The varying styles make for a rather patchy overall impression, almost like Foggo just slung any old thing together. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for mixing it up but this is a little too disjointed. Where it works, ‘Mad’ sounds decent enough. Opener ‘The Day I Met Mohammed Ali’ is promising, with a decent up tempo vibe, and the aforementioned ‘Sugarlover’ is enhanced by the female vocals. ‘Bang Me Head’ has a bit more of a Caribbean feel that makes it a stand out.
The main let down with this record though is the vocals. At times it sounds like a sub-par Sex Pistols cover band has taken over duties. At others it’s accented to the point of wondering just how forced everything is. And then there’re the effects. Basically it feels like there’s too much going on and distraction is too easy to come by.
Ultimately ‘Mad’ is the sort of record that might appeal to those who remember the 80’s ska explosion but for anybody else it’s a little hard to access. Certainly there are some moments that impress (Foggo is definitely a talented musician and a man of vision, albeit a slightly skewed one) but for the most part it’s just not that appealing.
Alex