[spunge] are a band that have never impressed me on record. I thought I’d get that right out of the way now before the inevitable backlash from their fans begins. Although the live show is fairly entertaining [spunge], who were once championed by the UK press as the next big thing, are now at their third full length album and are still the nearly men they’ve always been. The odd track has threatened to pull them out of the c-list of ska bands, but ‘The Story So far‘ does exactly what I’d expected it to do – send me to sleep. Because this is a very boring, lifeless, soulless and generic record, one which sounds identical to the band’s other two. You could use the old adage ‘if it ain’t broke why fix it’, but I’d rather not. As in my opinion it probably didn’t work in the first place.
What doesn’t help a reviewer is the fact that although B-Unique have kindly supplied me with a review copy, the tracklisting is completely wrong. ‘Jump On Demand’ isn’t the first song, and it all seems a little out of place, making it difficult to assign names to tracks. Still, it appears that ‘Story So far‘ opens the record, a track that starts off slowly before building up a little bit of pace. Unfortunately it’s instantly forgettable fare. The second single ‘Roots’ follows up and is really unmistakable [spunge]. I know I shouldn’t really like it but I do. It’s fun, fast and easy to skank to, and that is what the band do best. Just a pity that the video for the single is very crap indeed.
‘Give It A Try’ is based around a repetitive ska riff which does sound like the same one the band always seem to use. It does speed up at the end of the track though and sounds infinitely better for it, but whiffs of little more than an album filler song. Track 4, which I think is called ‘Change Of Scene’ because of the aforementioned problems with the tracklist, is actually very good, probably the best song here. It has pace and urgency in the chorus and slows down for the cleaner verse parts. ‘Skanking Song’ has a catchy enough ska riff, but with its well-placed “oi’s” it’s just a little bit too obvious. Another track that strikes of being no better than a b-side. Again it sounds much better when 90 seconds in the band speed things up a bit.
Track 6 almost drops the ska completely and even has a moog in the background. Still, the same wah-wah guitar effect is used for the guitar solos – some things never change. To be fair the song, which again I have no idea what the name is, is average – no better or worse than most of the songs here. Re-releasing ‘Ego’ is a disgrace, a song which admittedly is quite good but certainly won’t halt the sell-out accusations which the band have picked up since their change of labels. ‘Ego’ is possibly the song that the band are most well-known for and other than ‘Idols’ is said by many to be one of their best. But putting it on this album is pathetic – another example of the record company having way too much say. ‘Jump On Demand’ is ok too, just typical [spunge]. It’s exactly what you would expect to hear from Alex and co, nothing new or adventurous. A bit like this record really. Still, I’m sure some of the kids will love it. The final three songs are nothing spectacular either – ‘It’s Over’ is a reasonable song without setting the world on fire, featuring a typical chanting style chorus which the band are famed for. The final two are both nothing to write home about. Typical [spunge] is all I can describe it as really.
The record opens with a chap laughing, before saying “you’re just a bunch of amateurs” and unfortunately for [spunge] that is exactly what they are. Sure they’ve paid their dues and they put on a half-decent live show, but despite having a big label behind them who seem prepared to throw mega-bucks at them, [spunge] will never make it big. The simple fact is that they are no different to any of the US bands that play the ska ‘game’. The songs, with a couple of exceptions, are dull and generic, and have already been heard before – mainly on their previous two albums. Three years ago [spunge] were one of the leading lights of the UK scene and this is a very important record for them – but I cannot help but think that their time has passed. ‘The Story So Far‘ is just a very average record. Is this the beginning of the end for a band that once showed so much promise?
Paul