Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: Various Artists: "Do the Dog Ska-A-Go-Go, Volume 3"

Do the Dog Music
Digital
2021

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Since Kevin Flowerdew's essential Do the Dog Skazine is so thorough in its coverage of the global ska scene--far beyond what I'm able to digest and review each year for The Duff Guide to Ska--it only follows that I've only heard around half of the bands/songs on his fantastic new compilation Do the Dog Ska-A-Go-Go, Volume 3. This compilation features an extremely generous 47 tracks (!) of ska varying in style from traditional to 2 Tone to ska-punk from acts all over the world (some of them singing in languages other than English). Come for some of the better-known bands on Do the Dog Ska-A-Go-Go, Volume 3 like The Planet Smashers, Maroon Town, Cartoon Violence, The Bionic Rats, The Bruce Lee Band, Erin Bardwell, Crazy Baldhead, King Kong 4, The Co-operators & Friends, The Pomps, Detroit Riddim Crew, Catbite, The Skapones, Zen Baseballbat, Barbicide, The Abruptors,  Stop the Presses, The Players Band, Bad Operation, Some Ska Band, The Simmertones, Flowerdew's own Bakesys, and you'll walk away with many new faves, including acts like T-Killas, The Kubricks, RudeSix, GoGo 13, Los Fastidios & Elisa Dixan, and more. All participating acts contributed their music to help Kevin keep on publishing future issues of Do the Dog Skazine, which--in old school zine fashion--is only available in its print version from the man himself. 

Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: The Bionic Rats "Alive in Dublin"

Self-released
Digital
2020

(Review by Steve Shafer)

For music fans, there's nothing as satisfying as a fantastic live recording of one of your favorite bands in top form, is there? Alive in Dublin, the outstanding new album from The Bionic Rats recorded at the end of last summer at the Lost Lane before everything went pear-shaped, certainly fits this bill--and serves as both a Bionic Rats greatest hits collection and celebration of the 10 year anniversary of the release of their debut album in 2009. I've long been drawn to The Bionic Rats' catchy, sing-along 2 Tone-influenced ska songs, as they're oftentimes quite funny, cheeky, and downright rude, but also genuine, insightful, honest to a fault, and coming from folks with their hearts and minds in all the right places (they're fiercely anti-racist--see "Half a Mind" and "Don't Be Giving It All That."). 

In this generous set, The Bionic Rats play songs about lurching from personal crisis to personal crisis ("Another Fine Mess"); waiting for a girl who's never going to call ("Bored to Tears": "Sitting at home pulling the balls off me jumper"); "buying local"/Irish pride ("Brand New Geansai"--the Irish word for jumper/sweater); how capitalism grinds us up while making someone else rich ("I'm Doing Good"); challenging Christians to actually do what Jesus is said to have preached ("Seen and Not Heard": "You know actions/Speak louder than words...I feel Christians/Should be seen and not heard"); unapologetically loving/playing reggae ("Red, Gold, and Green": "Reggae is the pallet that I paint with/Red, gold, and green/Talking about the things I bear witness to/On and off the Liffey’s quays/I’m not Jamaican/Dublin born and bred/I don’t wanna be a natty dread/I’m not a Rastaman and I have no God/I am, what I am, I am"); telling all the haters trying to bring you down to sod-off ("Twisted Little Fuckers": "You's can all see them/I am not alone/They're the undead/I feel sorry for their children"); loving the vinyl single life ("Hooked on 45s"); being on the hunt for ecstasy ("Annie Oakes"); and more--all concerned with trying to get by in life, not being evil, and having a bit of fun while doing so. With 16 tracks selected from all four of The 'Rats' studio albums (including T.B.R., which I reviewed a few years ago), Alive in Dublin is a stellar overview of the band for newbies, and long-time followers are sure to have some of their most beloved cuts included here. For those us of us not yet lucky enough to be able to catch The Bionic Rats live in person, this should tide us over until that great day finally arrives. 

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For those interested, Bionic Rats' singer/guitarist Del Bionic does a live streaming set via FB every Sunday at 9:00 pm (UTC).

Duff Review: Various Artists "Rudies All Around, Volume 1"

Happy People Records
CD/digital/LP
2018

(Review by Steve Shafer)

While Sean Flowerdew compiled Rudies All Around, Volume 1--a truly ace survey of current international ska acts--as a means to help promote and support his very worthy ongoing enterprise/labor of ska love, the London International Ska Festival (2019's edition is slated to feature Georgie Fame, Misty in Roots, Keith and Tex, Rudy Mills, The Steady 45s, Chris Murray, King Zepha, Masons Arms, Le Birrette, Erin Bardwell Collective, The Indecision, and many more to be announced over the coming months)--ska fans have the added benefit of encountering/being turned onto a host of incredible bands with minimal effort.

As with most carefully selected comps (and Flowerdew is particularly plugged into the global scene), there's a pretty wide variety of ska styles represented on Rudies All Around, Volume 1, which ensures that most listeners will find something to please them (though there's not much ska-punk--which is okay by me). On the traditional ska tip, things kick off with New Zealand's Atushi and The Moisties' "A Sound Of The Ska," which seems like it's been delivered to us in the present via a time machine from JA in 1964. Italy's all-female Le Birrette showcase their fantastic Deltones-y ska on "Mr A." Channeling Dr. Ring Ding, Masons Arms' "Von Vorn" is an incredible, amped-up Spirit of '69 skinhead reggae track in German. Mexico's Travelers Allstars' "Learned Lesson" is a great Jackie Mittoo-like instrumental, while Argentinians Los Aggrotones tread on great Western reggae territory with "Riding to Sonora." Italy's Uppertones joined by American Aggrolite Jesse Wagner do a fun rendition of the 1950's novelty song "El Cumpari," and the legendary and late Rico Rodriquez is featured on Pama International meets Manasseh's excellent futuristic sci-fi (via the 1970s) "Disobedient Dub" (from their Trojan Sessions in Dub album).

For those looking for 2 Tone/modern ska sounds, there's loads to like here. Ireland's Bionic Rats' phenomenally catchy "No Bottles No Milk" is about trying to get by in life with what (little) you've got (had to look up a lot of Irish slang to completely understand this one). Phoenix City All-stars' extraordinary dubby and haunted version of The Clash's "London Calling" drives home how the imagined dystopian/fascist/post-apocalyptic future of the original is closer to being realized than ever (I can't wait to hear the rest of the album this comes from, Clash Version Rockers!). "When It Rains" from the amazing Lions (whose members include Alex Desert and Deston Berry of Hepcat) is about how America's legacy of slavery continues to play out in all sorts of horrifically racist ways (and comes from their superb Soul Riot album--read our review of it). South Korea's The Rulerz's "Angels With Dirty Faces" may remind one of Euro-ska of the early 1990s. Capone and the Bullets (Scotland) turn in a great, deranged ska cover of Kraftwerk's "Das Model" (and emphasize the predatory creepiness of its lyrics), while The Scotch Bonnets (USA) transform The Ramones' punk anthem "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" into a mellow(er), but still very spirited rocksteady track. Dan P and The Bricks (USA) raucous and infectious "The Show" is about becoming an obsessive ska fan/musician. Italy's Miserable Man's broken-hearted acoustic-y/campfire ska song  "Heart in a Fire" is offbeat and completely winning. One of our favorite earworm cuts on the comp comes from Canada: King Kong 4's phenomenal "Profile of a New Elite" (think late '70s Elvis Costello meets The Specials), a cheery, but dark tale that points out how racists/fascists aren't born but raised.

Really, every song on Rudies All Around, Volume 1 is top-quality and I was introduced to a slew of bands that I had never heard from before. So, mission accomplished!

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The Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: The Bionic Rats "T.B.R."

(Review by Steve Shafer)

The Bionic Rats T.B.R. (CD/digital download, self-released, 2016): If Rock Against Racism stages a comeback--and God knows we need them more than ever on both sides of the Atlantic--Dublin's phenomenal The Bionic Rats have two powerful anti-racist anthems ready for the RAR playlist, as well as a slew of other terrific ska, rocksteady, and reggae songs about enduring the slings and arrows of work, love, and life, on their amazingly good fourth album T.B.R. (the acronym reminds me, in my dyslexic way, of the Tom Robinson Band!). The ska-jazzy, but kind of spaghetti Western-ish "One More Nail in the Coffin" lays out The Bionic Rats absolute determination to counter the forces of fear and hate: "Climb up the ladder, get to the top/We'll never stop/One more nail in the coffin, one more nail/'Til all superstitions are dead in the ground/We'll never stop/One more nail in the coffin of ignorance." Even better may be the biting, minor-key lament "Half a Mind," which is similar in vein to Linton Kwesi Johnson's fierce anti-fascist/anti-National Front cut "Fite Dem Back" and is equally on the mark: "Now it wouldn't happen all the time/But you hear them talking about their kind/While they seem intelligent otherwise/I never fail to be surprised/Every time I hear their bile and see the poison in their eyes/They can never justify their lies but they try, oh yes they try/If they had half a mind maybe they could could use it/Take up too much of their time, too confusing." But it's not all about manning the ramparts against the bigots. The shiny and upbeat ska tune "I'm Doing Good" is an ode to the office workers of the world slaving away in their cubicles for someone else's big gain (complete with work-induced grunty vocal effects--shades of, um, "Allentown"!): "I'm doing good today/I'm making someone else some money...I'm doing good today/Hit all my targets this week/I'm doing good today/I worked right through my lunch break/I'm doing good today/I'm such a good employee/I'm doing good today/I'll still be here when it's late/I'm workin' it/I'm livin' it/I'm losing it/Each day at a time." "Say Something" urges bands to use their platform, large or small, to communicate something meaningful (amen to that--I'm all about the lyrics, too). "Until I Forget" is about struggling with drink--and references my favorite Homer Simpson quote ever on the subject. The band won't let you wallow in regret over how you completely blew it in the dubby "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda"--'cause you know better. And the 11 year-old lurking within me loves the "dilemma" inferred in "Girls With Big Hands." The Bionic Rats' T.B.R. is by far one of my most favorite albums of the year--and fans of bands like No Sports or The Toasters should make a point to check it out!

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