Firstly – apologies to Kev and The Scrub for the lateness of this review. I’ve had this knocking about my room for ages because I never took it far from my stereo so that I could listen to it a lot. Then I just got another pile of stuff to review and it all went a bit tits up. So basically, this is a really good little EP from a Bristol band (featuring a certain Saul from 5K guesting on ‘Fine Time’) that could well go on to become something special.
Even though there’s a slightly incongruous rappy bit in the middle of ‘Fine Time’ it works superbly as an energetic ska punk song, since it’s catchy and melodic without being annoying in any way. The band chucks in enough good ideas to keep things interesting, and the laid-back horn lines float casually along the low key guitars, evoking the spirit of both 2 Tone and a slightly more updated ska punk sound that is continued on ‘Storm Ahead’. A more punky track that only really slips into the higher gear when the double-time drums usher in another decent horn line.
The Scrub are much more effective when playing slower ska, since ‘Rhonda’ is by far the best track on the EP. It seems to give them more time to develop structures rather than clouding the vocals with heavy guitars, and their talents lie in crafting broodingly impressive ska rather than anything else. I defy anyone to listen to ‘Unstuck?’ and not nod their head – simple, well executed ska that wisely chooses a minimalist route instead of making everything complicated. Given a few tours and another album they could blossom into another Zen Baseballbat because they appear to have their heads screwed on correctly, in that they stick to what they’re good at. They don’t bring anything new to the genre, but when they play ska as well as this, they don’t need to.
Ben
www.thescrub.co.uk
www.dothedog.com