The Toasters – Dub 56
welcome back to the Skaject folks! this week, our record is Dub 56, released in August 1994 by The Toasters as their fifth studio release.
it is very very interesting listening to this record right after the Rancid release. as someone who grew up listening to a lot of ska punk and generally preferring that sound, its wild to hear a time in which that sound still hasn’t broken out, and this genre of more distilled ska is still making waves. i found myself comparing them to TSPO – my experience with them has been an extremely consistent, big-bandy kind of ska, and the Toasters have a few tracks that play in that sort of space. Marlboro Man, on of my faves on the record, is a sax and lower brass-heavy song with little to the vocal components, as good as they are, and tracks like Dancin’ or Sweet Cherie hew a lot closer to the older, Jamaican sounds. that’s not unusual for The Toasters, in my experience, who have historically had a much stronger foot in ska’s historical roots, but it is very interesting.
as with New York Fever, i think im most interested in some of the more political tracks. Direction and Freedom, songs about vapid entertainment culture or Freedom, a song that stands in a long line of ska tracks that touch on racial unity, are extremely strong ways to kick things off, and as nice as songs like Mona are, they just didn’t catch my attention the same way. i also had a good time with Ain’t Nuthin’, a more reflective song on the band itself.
on the whole, i don’t think there’s any particular weak points here – i even had a pretty solid time with their cover of Midnight Hour, by Wilson Pickett – but i think this record’s a lil less impressive than i found New York Fever for sure.
faves – Freedom, Dub 56, Tunisia, Marlboro Man
dislikes –
Dub 56 – 7/10
next week, we’re taking a look at The Happy Album, from The Selecter.
previous: Let’s Go | next: The Happy Album
previous Toasters release: New York Fever | next: Hard Band For Dead
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