Well, the sun is out, summer is around the corner and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones will soon be returning to these shores. What more could a ska fan want? So, feeling chirpy because Mr Sun has got his hat on, I dug out a re-issued Bosstones record to further brighten up the day.
Unfortunately, ‘Awfully Quiet’ is a very bad record. I’m not the biggest ska fan, even though I am known to dabble in a bit of Reel Big Fish and Mad Caddies from time to time, but this record is really proof why I’m not a fan of the ‘Tones. To be honest, this is absolute horse shit and I’d go as far as saying that it’s one of the worst cds I’ve heard this year. Not what you want to listen to when the weather is good, because your good mood will swiftly change…
Kicking off with ‘Where’d You Go’ you get the unmistakeable Bosstones trumpet-enthused sounds. I believe Dickie and the boys are really an acquired taste, and the opening track is perfect proof. Some may like it but I most certainly don’t. ‘Howwhywuz, howwhyyam’ is a good example of a bad Bosstones song. It’s got some bad vocals, the same old ska riff and there’s just no tune to it. Even on a hot summers day this sounds a bit poor…
‘I’ll Drink To That’ is marginally better, but lets face it, it’s certainly no ‘Impression That I Get’. It abandons most of the ska and whilst still upbeat, is more a punk song with horns, rather than stamping the Bosstones identity on it. ‘He’s Back’ starts with a fade-in intro, which I personally hate, so things don’t get off to such a good start. But after 45-seconds or so of pure dross, the ska kicks in giving a skakalicious effort that shines head and shoulders above anything else here. Even then the vocals are kinda crappy, but hey, at this point I’m taking whatever good stuff I can get. ‘Hope I Never Lose My Wallet’ is also better than some of the earlier tracks, but again it’s not really that good.
By ‘Devil’s Nite Out’ you’re beginning to sense this isn’t a very good album, and when Motorhead are apparently blaring out of the speakers I’m well and truly ready to throw it in the bin…but on we go. ‘What’s At Stake’ is another bad song, again the vocals are completely wrong for the song and there’s no sense of a tune. Summery ska this is not. And the less said about ‘Sweet Emotion’, a metal track, the better.
‘It Can’t Hurt’ is, in comparison, a moment of genius. To be fair it’s a decent track, exactly the kind of song that you’d expect from this Boston mob. Unfortunately ‘Patricia’ goes back to the dark and twisted ‘metal’ style Bosstones that is simply shit. ‘Guns And The Young’ starts with samples of news reports, but again the song just isn’t very good, just what the obsession with piss-poor metal is, I’ll never know. So, relief again in the form of ‘Cowboy Coffee’, another upbeat little ska number which will get your foot tapping in next to no time.
‘Do Something Crazy’ is average at best and the album’s title track is ok; nothing special but a standout in such terrible company. A cover of Metallica‘s ‘Enter Sandman’ could be funny, but it’s basically a carbon copy with only a minor horn adjustment. To be honest, it’s awful. So I guess it’s no surprise that ‘A Little Bit Ugly’ ends the record on a bad note, a piss-poor effort that screams out “skip”.
The Bosstones are far, far better than this and I’d really recommend avoiding this cd. It has a few good moments, but these are heavily outweighed by the dross that pollutes this record. If you are after a happy, summery ska/pop cd, go and catch some Fish, because this isn’t the record for you.
Paul Savage