Skankin’ Pickle – The Green Album
welcome back to the Skaject folks! this week, we’re nearing the end of our 1996 records (wild!) with Skankin’ Pickle’s The Green Album
The Green Album shows a lot of the same things ive dug about prior Skankin’ Pickle – a varied approach to songwriting and a very fun sense of humor, both of which are present in spades on this album. i think this album feels very raw in a way that’s charming – Rest of the World and Don’t Care, for example, are, imo, not as polished as some of the other songs on the record, and while i don’t adore those songs i do gotta admit there’s something very fun about them. My Hair feels like it’s written about a specific high school incident – the loopy lil sax part combined with the steady guitar, bass, and drums provide a fun lil heartbeat for the song. i even really liked their take on Special Brew, originally by Bad Manners, and while i largely thing their cover of Oingo Boingo’s Violent Love is fun, it’s an odd choice as a final track.
it also, however, has one fatal flaw. one achille’s heel that kept me from enjoying this album as much as i otherwise might – they started with Gas In My Car. this was the only Skankin’ Pickle song i knew prior to this project, and i am a huge huge huge fan of it. every part of the song is firing on all cylinders – the guitar part is driving and rhythmic, the drums are explosive and frenetic, the horns provide a perfect punctuation to the song, and the vocal parts are equal parts playful and serious, weaving in and out of each other in really fun ways. so its a bit jarring then, to be followed up two songs later by like. Cup Flipper. which is a fine song! but not quite the same. i think Start Today is the only song here that brings the same kinda energy i was looking for, which goes light on horns and much higher on punk energy, but otherwise it really just stands shoulder above everything else here, and after listening to it first i kept wondering if anything else would match it.
on the whole though, i think Skankin’ Pickle is still doing some really fun work, and remain as charming and fun as they have on prior records. the horn work, especially, on this record shines throughout.
faves – Gas in My Car, Start Today, My Hair, Special Brew
dislikes –
The Green Album – 6/10
next week – Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra’s Tokyo Strut.
previous: Sublime | next: Tokyo Strut
previous Skankin’ Pickle release: Sing Along With Skankin’ Pickle | next: none
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