Bad Manners – Ska N’ B
welcome back to the Skaject folks! this week we’re looking at the debut record from Bad Manners, Ska N’ B! this record’s going to be quite fun, because i have done an incarnation of the Skaject before, and Bad Manners was one of the bands i covered! ill be making some small notes to my prior thoughts when i think its relevant, just to show how some long term exposure changes things, haha.
Ne-Ne Na-Na Na-Na Nu-Nu is a cover from a band called Dicky Doo and the Don’ts. i originally just found this weird but fun, but beyond the vocals an instrumental flourish here and there its not that far off the wall. i still quite enjoy this track. good time. Here Comes the Major was a hit for me before, and it still is. the horns on this track really bring it home. Fatty Fatty is a Clancy Eccles cover, and one i enjoyed last time but feel kinda middling on now. feels relevant to note that its a neat track in that Buster, who was a fat guy, took a track that was about an overweight friend and made it his own. neat track for sure, but just not one of my faves. King Ska Fa is a mostly instrumentla track that slaps ass. fantastic track. i have warmed on the Monster Mash cover here – i dont see it as a huge improvement to the original, but it is a fun groovy take on it for sure. it might continue to grow on me, who knows. Caledonia is a Louis Jordan and his Timpany Five cover, and this leans a little harder on those big band and jazz influences, and i think its a really good song. Magnificent 7 is a cover from a movie theme song by Elmer Bernstein. its a perfectly serviceable track but i just kinda drift through it. Wooly Bully is a cover of the Sam Sham and the Pharoahs track, and its another one i enjoy in the context of the album but probably wouldnt seek out outside of it. i enjoyed Lip Up Fatty quite a bit on the prior review, and i got no issues with it here but i dont think im as big a fan as last time. Special Brew and Inner London Violence both slap for different reasons, haha. Inner London Violence feels… tonally out of place on this record? not in this genre or even in the bands style, but they follow it up with Scruffy, the Huffy Chuffy Tugboat, and it makes it kinda feel like a joke.
faves- Ne-Ne Na-Na Na-Na Nu-Nu, Here Comes the Major, King Ska Fa, Caledonia, Special Brew, Inner London Violence
dislikes –
alright this is a record that, while i would list fewer individual tracks as “faves” on this go around, i actually appreciate a lot more. i was listening to a kinda bad recoeding before, but the version used for this review feels more in line with the other ska records ive been listening to around the same time, and it was just less of a distraction (if it was even a different version at all).
the band has a fun, frenetic energy, and Buster shows some fun style on the vocals here. while a lot of the tracks are covers, theyre all doing fun takes on the originals, and i enjoy (almost) all of the original tracks here. very good time.
Ska N’ B – 8/10
next up on the project, we’re listening to I Just Can’t Stop, by the Beat (AKA, the English Beat).
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