U.K ska type pop punks (spunge) are back, this time in the interactive form, with this, the release of their first DVD, following up to the recent offering their covers album, “That Should Cover It.” With the band now releasing material through their own label, Dent’ All Records, the DVD is released along side a new single – “One More Go.”
Let’s get one thing straight, over the years, (spunge) have taken some shit. There was the whole choreographed performance and set list thing, and to be fair their songs have always been under constant scrutiny, by pop punks who thought it was cheap, and ska kids who thought it was pop punk going down the wrong road, but I’ve seen (spunge) twice, and in 2002 at the Leeds Festival on the Concrete Jungle stage, I have to admit I thought they were decent, and “Kicking Pigeons” was a damn good song.
The DVD itself is a strange one. I found it really hard to navigate, and all the features were all over the place, intentional or not, I found it annoying. By the time I had searched all over, I couldn’t remember what I was actually looking for. To sum it all up, there is a few live tracks, the videos to most of the bands songs, (“Jump On Demand” is quite interesting.) Surrounding all that is a load of hilarious (or not) documentary / back stage shenanigans that will either make laugh, or curse the guys even more. Take your pick. To be honest, the DVD kept me interested for about 20 minutes, I checked out the stuff, watched what interested me, and basically surveyed the quality. Which in whole I guess is good. I think a band releasing a DVD is a huge risk, because only the people with a genuine big, interest in the band, like the life long supporters are gonna buy it, still, (spunge) must believe they have a big enough following to take this on and good on them. If you like (spunge) then go out and buy this DVD because I’m sure you’ll love it.
Pete Punktastic
www.spunge.co.uk