This release on Captain Oi! Records is basically The Selecter doing what they do best – languid ska rhythms, laid-back riffs all held together with Pauline Black’s ethereal vocals. The vast majority of tracks here are what you’d expect from the band, but they do throw up a few surprised here and there. It’s pretty obvious that if you’re reading this you know who The Selecter are and you’ve already decided if you love them or they just piss you off, and I doubt this album is really going to change any minds. That’s not to say it’s crap – just that there’s nothing particularly new.
The instrumental ‘Black Ska Liner’ opens the album with a bluesy
bassline and organ riff that really does seem timeless. It’s almost comical at times, but a great way to ease you in: calm and summery almost to the point of coma. It’s a far better instrumental than the later ‘Spirit of ‘79′, which doesn’t really go anywhere and sounds more like a protracted jam than a standalone track. It’s a shame, because the aforementioned ‘Black…’ functions superbly while ‘Spirit…’ seems a bit lost. ‘Monkey’s Uncle’ seems to be astonishingly close to Reel Big Fish‘s ‘Monkey Man’ in lyrics and style, so you can make your own conclusions from there, but it’s a fully danceable ska track, and the horns make a welcome addition even if the song doesn’t develop much at all.
‘Armagideon Time’ and ‘Peace Crisis’ evoke the reggae-based, rootsy sound of yore, and it’s on these tracks that Black’s vocals are given prominence to atmospheric effect. They fit perfectly with the echoey guitar lines and splashes of organ that colour the songs, and on ‘Beat Down Babylon’ the pervasion of the bass into what sounds like each of the instruments makes the entire song grind and swerve like the most stoned of students. The pace is stepped up on ‘Algebra’, a kinetic track that moves more towards the sound of the Clash with the fast-moving choruses and offbeat verses, and on ‘Do It Right’ you get a glimpse of The Selecter trying it a bit faster, a basically classic ska track replete with a practically Chuck Berry-esque solo.
The thing is that you’ve already decided whether you’re going to buy this, or whether or not you detest all forms of music with an offbeat rhythm. And fair play if you fall in the latter camp, since in 2003 The Selecter aren’t really pushing any boundaries. But that hardly matters, because they laid the groundwork before most of us were even born, and the fact that they can produce the goods after so long is testament to their abilities. To invoke one of the best albums of the year it’s not rocket science, but it is some good old trad ska. And if you like The Selecter, you’ll like this. Simple!
Ben