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Blotto
Singles Collection 2004-2007 |
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Tracklist |
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01 - Calling From Beat Chips!!
02 - Stirring Up
03 - Right On Time
04 - Driving To The Space
05 - Ring Ding Ding |
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Review |
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Dallax are a "SKA CORE band that works in Japan" to quote the English page of their official site. They don't seem to be that well known and to date have only a handful of releases, most of which are much shorter than I would like, but quality is better than quantity, so on to the review.
In a change from the way I usually review things I'm going to take this track by track, it being so short, I figured what the hey.
So the first track, "Calling From Beat Chips," is something of an intro: everything is quiet, then someone is eating crisps, suddenly a phone starts ringing; somebody picks it up and a computerised voice says "dallax, beat chips, start" and with that it's into the album proper.
It plows straight into track two, the almighty "Stirring Up." This is easily one of the best ska songs I have ever heard (it's up there with Doberman's 'Syasyou Wa Nekorondamama'), and it has all you need; it's energetic, fast, catchy and at just three minutes 12 it leaves you no time to get bored.
"Right On Time" takes a more sedate pace, with a slightly more laid back sound, while it is less catchy it's still stronger than a lot of the ska out there, bands like Mongol800 for example.
On "Driving To The Space" the pace picks back up again. While it doesn't quite match the furious energy of Strirring Up, this song literally drips cool, the sound is laid back but no less catchy, and I often find myself nodding my head in time without even realising it.
Finally, "Ring Ding Ding" winds the album down to a close, starting with a slightly drunken sounding singalong and some bongo beats and just carries on like this for the rest of the three minutes.
Well two of the five tracks are absolutely top notch, so overall that makes this a pretty solid release. After all, how many releases these days achieve that good a ratio? (I hesitate about what to call it, single, mini-album or EP, the site says single so I will go with that). I think one thing that would have really made this even better is if "Right on Time" had been a slightly more energetic song to keep up the energy started in "Stirring Up." As it is, it feels like a slight dip in the middle which messes with the overall flow, not too seriously though.
To conclude, if you like japanese ska and you haven't heard this, you should! |
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