Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: The Dendrites "Lunchin' with The Dendrites"

Self-released
CD/digital EP
2020

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Lunchin' with The Dendrites is the absolutely brilliant new EP from Denver's Dendrites that packs quite a wallop in its six tracks of strikingly original ska and jazz. "Dujack," with all of its menace (played by these wonderfully gifted musicians), could be the instrumental theme song for an imagined 1950s or 1960s private eye TV show, as it's in the vein of iconic tracks like "Peter Gunn" (written by Henry Mancini) or "Ironside" (composed by Quincy Jones); the music promises thrills, action, and conflict. "No Money No Sunshine" is an awesomely twisted you're completely bad for me but I can't help but love you mid-tempo ska song: "Baby, your dark cloud's been hanging over me/And I don't miss the sun/'Cause I hate to say, I love you more every single day/...Your vampire ways." I'm not sure if she's literally undead, but it's kind of not good either way.

"Snap Patch" is an easy-going jazzy/funky instrumental, while "Xaasj" (a species of large cacti found in northern Mexico) is a Mexican-ska-jazz blend, cinematic in scope, evoking the high drama of spaghetti Westerns. Perhaps the best cut on the EP, "Bottom Feeder" is an incredible, bright, dubby ska instrumental with these nagging minor-key chord progressions full of apocalyptic "Man at C and A"/"Ghost Town"-type dread (that Jerry Dammers did so well). Equally appropriate for Earth Day or the global COVID-19 pandemic, the sing-along "Don't Wanna Go" is an eco-ska song for environmental end times (it's the cut that should follow "Enjoy Yourself," when that track's lyrics are no longer relevant), which laments what we've done to trash the place, so much so that we have to abandon the mother-ship: "I'm not packing my suitcase 'cause I wanna go/Not packing my bags for a weekend show/I'm packing up 'cause we all gotta leave/'Cause the place we call home's a catastrophe...I'm packing now baby 'cause it's all gonna blow/Well, I tried and I tried and I tried to live green/Beam me up, Scotty, I don't wanna leave."

Lunchin' with The Dendrites is a real gem of an EP and, it almost goes without saying, is one of the best ska releases of the year.

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Duff Guide to Ska Fast Take: Flying Vipers "Nervous Breakdub (Pandemic Version)" b/w "PMA Calling"

Music A.D.D.
Digital single
2020

(Review by Steve Shafer)

While much of the nation--and world--is under heavy coronavirus manners, John and Marc Beaudette of the Boston dub unit Flying Vipers (and reggae-rock band Destroy Babylon) have revisited their really fantastic take on Black Flag's debut Nervous Breakdown EP (which we reviewed last year) with their new digital single "Nervous Breakdub (Pandemic Version)" b/w "PMA Calling." The pandemic version is even better than Flying Vipers' already great first run at this--its now distorted bass more punky and dirty and ballsy, and the use of the forever-locked-in-the-'70s sounds of the Odyssey synthesizer (think of the theme music for the "In Search of..." TV show hosted by Spock) provides a crisp, just shy of cheesy retro-futuristic contrast that works brilliantly. As you might of guessed, "PMA Calling" is Bad Brains-related; it's Flying Vipers' cover of BB's "Jah Calling" from their yellow ROIR tape (Bad Brain's debut release in '82), which turned on John Beaudette and countless other budding American teen punk rockers to reggae (and blew so many people's minds that Bad Brains could play both hardcore and roots reggae so damn well). Flying Vipers again make terrific use of the Odyssey synth with spaced-out sounds that soothe the stressed-out mind/body and float above the insistent, ever forward moving rhythm section (I'd listen to this in a sensory deprivation tank!). These stellar tracks will greatly enhance your lockdown playlist and help keep you going during dark and uncertain times.

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