Bad Manners – Fat Sound
welcome back to the Skaject folks! this week, it’s the seventh record from Bad Manners, 1992’s Fat Sound:
this record kicks off with a ska cover of Perez Prado’s Mambo No. 8 – really solid way to start things off here, ngl. Do the Creep is really silly in a very charming way. i enjoy this one a lot more than i think i should, haha. I Can’t Stand the Rain, a cover of a track from Ann Peebles, feels very single-y – i think this track’s solid for a few listens but doesnt really hold up over time. Crazy Over You, a cover of a Charlie Jones track, has some charming moments but is overall a tad disappointing. Feel Likr Jumping is a Marcia Griffiths cover – really think they messed this one up in the mix. not huge on the horn treatment here. Midnight Riders covers the Allman Brothers Band track – of the covered tracks on this record this one might be the one i know the best, and i dont really dig the energy theyre shooting for here. definitely feels like a downgrade. Skinhead Love Affair is an original – got some charming moments for sure. Voices In My Head is fine. theyve got a kind of edgy humor that REALLY contrasts the originals on this record with the covers and it means this little island in the middle of the album feels very strange. First Cut Is the Deepest is played fairly close to the original, and its a pleasant listen. Wet Dream is a cover of a Max Romeo song, whose instrumental track was originally written for Derrick Morgan. the original was an interesting track for being such a sexually explicit song that charted, and so ran into quite a bit of censorship – im not a fan of this version, to be honest. Buster Bloodvessel’s delivery leans it way more creepy than anything, in my opinion. in a sharp genre jump, Stop Making Love Beside Me brings some real 80a sensibilities to a track originally by B.B. Seaton. Pig Bad is a sax heavy, bass-y cover of a PigBag song. i really like this one quite a bit. Mambo No. 5 is another Perez Prado cover – a bit more straightforward of a cover here. very solid. Teenager In Love is, you guessed it, a cover of the Dion and the Belmonts song. Bloodvessel does a very hammy, over the top sarcastic delivery here that is more annoying than funny over the full 3 minute song. hard pass for me. they close out the record with a fairly solid cover of the Kinks’ track Lola. p nice, and a really good energy to wrap the record up on. there’s an odd difference in the intensity in the mix between the verses and the swelling instruments that intro the track and frame the choruses, thats a bit jarring.
faves – Do the Creep, Pig Bad
dislikes – Teenager In Love
with only 3 songs, this record is mostly a covers record, and while they pick mostly solid tracks i just dont think the covers really meet the bar here. kind of a bummer.
Fat Sound – 3/10
next week, we’ll check out the Mighty Mighty Bosstones EP, Ska-Core, the Devil, and More.
previous: New York Fever | next: Ska-Core, the Devil, and More
previous Bad Manners album: Return of the Ugly | next: Heavy Petting
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