Bim Skala Bim – Tuba City
welcome back to the Skaject folks! we’re returning to Bim Skala Bim for their 1989 record Tuba City today!
the lead track here, Gopher Rodeo… works in ways i wasn’t expecting. high energy in an infectious way, and a really fun brand of nonsensical. this one’s really good, haha. Bangin’, more than most ska i’ve heard, feels a lot like just fast reggae, haha. and like, this one’s also a really fun track. On the Edge of a Knife takes a pretty hard curve, tonally. nice mood but def a strange spot on the record to take this shift. Shoes has an absolutely incredible opening – the verse are the weakest part here, as the transitional instrumental bits absolutely TEAR and the chorus is really good. Native’s an interesting track – this is absolutely the kind of stuff the Mad Caddies end up exploring a few records deep into their discography (though we’ll get there). this feels a lot more classic rock inspired, in places. a strange track. Groucho Go Ska is a nice lil mostly instrumental track. very very nice vibes on this song. Fathead ramps up the tempo again – this song’s p good for sure. Hung Up’s another really strong song – not sure i’m putting this one on the favorites list but the vindictive lover vibes here make for a pretty solid track. ironically, it’s some of the transition stuff here that doesn’t work, like the bridge. Things You Do is another slower, longer track. i feel similarly to how i do for Native, in that there’s part of this i enjoy but i definitely am not enjoying it as much as their higher tempo stuff. Let Me In… i’m not really enjoying this one at all. Fred’s a fine enough track – pretty strong instrumentals over a kind of spoken dialogue about a guy named Fred. Vin’s Latin Ska’s got some good vibes to it. kinda what it says on the tin, haha. and they absolutely pull out the stops for the closer, a cover of Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love. i’m not fully sold on the vocals here, but god this song has an energy that’s hard to resist. way to close out the record with a bang.
faves – Gopher Rodeo, Bangin’, Shoes
dislikes –
yeah this was a really good record – i feel like both the vocalists here absolutely knock it out, nearly every track has some really really strong instrumentation, and i feel like the record does a fairly strong job of balancing all the sounds it wants to introduce. i’m personally a little biased against the two longer tracks here – i feel like the take a lot of the momentum they build up and grind it down quite a bit, but i’m willing to admit that’s a personal preference as Native and Things You Do are fairly solid tracks other than my feelings on how they effect the tracks around them. that being said, the high-tempo stuff on this record absolutely SHINES – really can’t believe i hadn’t heard some of this stuff before these listens.
Tuba City – 8/10
next week, we’re checking out Return of the Ugly, from Bad Manners
previous: Devil’s Night Out | next: Return of the Ugly
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