REVIEW: The Pietasters, Awesome Mix Tape #6 (Hellcat/Epitaph)
- Christina Apeles
The rude boys of The Pietasters remind the ears how fun ska music can be with the prerequisite horns, reggae beats, bass line, and a husky voice carrying each song. In the case of Awesome Mix Tape #, they equate fun with bouncing, swaying, and body movement variations on the same theme. This septet produces a feverous collection of songs, in suits while sporting buzz cuts, that will lift your spirits.
With vocalist Stephen Jackson, sounding tough and raspy, taking center stage, it is inevitable to draw comparisons to Madness, which is part of the appeal -- familiarity. In "Chain Reaction" and "Yesterday's Over," with horns galore, the Pietasters will take you back. Decades later, the sound has yet to lose it's merry tone, which makes it easy to gravitate to as well as reminding of sifting back through your vinyl collection for Selecter or the Specials. What sets the Pietasters apart is their punk roots, not that it is necessarily a unique quality since everyone knows most ska bands today have one foot in the punk scene as well. But like fellow label bedfellows Rancid, their infusion of punk sensibility gives an edge to their sound, incorporating a commotion of electric guitar on brisk tracks "Somebody" and "What I Do."
Awesome Mix Tape #6 resonates the best part of this genre of music: No matter how tragic the lyrics are -- whether over heartache, nostalgia, or crime -- nothing feels too bad when horns are a-playing, the beats are still hopping, and the bass line is grooving.
