One foot on the gas, one foot in the grave!
Upon receipt of this CD in my modest pile to review this week, I hope that I can be forgiven for dismissing this one as another ska/punk band, plodding along with a few mediocre bouncy songs, waving the flag of a genre that can sometimes sound very samey. However, when I slipped this badboy into my car stereo, I realised that I couldn't be further from the truth!
Described as a ska supergroup, Streetlight Manifesto were formed from the ashes of Catch 22 by the aforementioned band's singer/guitarist, and having already toured with such heavyweights as Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake, they certainly have a bit of clout.
'Somewhere In Between' is one of those few albums that silently creeps up on you and then unleashes so many catchy and well played songs that you don't know which one you want to listen again first! Opening with 'We Will Fall Together' which bombards you with a fantastically catchy brass-section, giving you exactly what in my opinion ska is all about. Too many so called ska bands play tinny short reggae riffs, hoping that the bouncy beat will take the songs through, when it's a nice chunky brass section that plays hooks and melodies whilst duelling with guitars that enhance the sound and not bring forth a barrage of an uncontrollable cacophony that is best. When the vocals kick in it's a pleasant surprise as Tomas Kalnoky has a voice non too dissimilar to NoFx funny-guy Fat Mike.
Next song, 'Down, Down, Down To Mephisto's Cafe' starts of slowly before building up with vocals that remain catchy from the first few lines of, "They will not remember this song // No matter what we do we'll be wrong // They will not remember this song // No Matter what we do we'll be wrong". If you got the musical talents of Reel Big Fish and had Fat Mike singing then you would get Streetlight Manifesto! And more to the point you would be very happy indeed!
We have a touch of those gypsy punks Gogol Bordello, in 'Would You Be Impressed' showing that Streetlight Manifesto are just as comfortable with the quirky, as they are with the ska/pop/punk. One of the best songs here, if I can even try to pick one could possibly the layered anthem track of, 'One Foot On The Gas, One Foot In The Grave'. Starting of slow and gentle you think that the song could well be a ballad as it starts around melodic guitars with slow and heavily harmonised vocals which have more depth and feeling, however when you are just about to reach for your lighter, the trumpets kick in and the tempo goes up a few gears, and builds into what you think must be the chorus, when suddenly a second chorus of the song title appears from nowhere, by which time you will already be nodding your head like a toy dog in the back of an oldtimers car.
'Watch It Crash' really is NoFx with trumpets, telling the tale of who not to blame for folks going off the tracks, which then along the same lines we have the title track of, 'Somewhere In Between' which is another sing-a-long number. 'Forty Days' is certainly more brass section than thick guitar riffs, and once again it is the different arrangement of each song that keeps things fresh in each song.
The is a certain tongue-in-cheek element to these guys that makes them that little more appealing like in the song, 'The Blonde Lead The Blind' which is a little more like The Vandals in so many ways. Great stuff.
'The Receiving End Of It All' bounces along with an upbeat and happy tempo whilst 'What A Wicked Gang We Are' sees us out yo-yoing back and forth from ska to punk and back again. This is an instantly likable album that whilst other band's are moaning about how life sucks and global warming and so on, Streetlight Manifesto keep their eyes on the prize giving the music listening public exactly what they want which is good quality music. Music that you can put on in the car after a hard day at work. Music to think about the good times to. This is everything that I love about music, and then just a little bit more.