Sheer Madness
Its all very well having a Ska influence running through your music, after all the Two Tone movement from the early eighties was one of the most distinct and fertile periods in British music, but it becomes a problem when appreciation turns to homage and tumbles over into pastiche.
This single is so swamped in the sound of Madness it's near impossible to listen to without the images of Suggs and co. bouncing around popping into your head. The nutty boy skanking stomp is prevalent and driven by the familiar ska trumpet sound with the odd rat a tat percussive flourish, it also includes a seemingly tacked on at the end chat from Rankin Junior that reeks of tokenism.
Music at the moment is crying out for something other than the omnipotent angular/spikey New York influenced sound, and British bands would do well to look at their own heritage for inspiration. Ska is one such place, but you need to adapt the sound and come up with something new to make it relevant and exciting, sadly it doesn’t happen here.