The album is full of overall optimistic songs with titles like We’re Not Having Fun, Shouting Very Loud About Nothing In Particular and One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, and when I say optimistic, you’ll have to read to the end to understand why. What The Bakesys have done is to grab the mood of the nation and wrap it into eleven songs. The empty sounds focused around a near monotonous drone of the beat creates a backdrop for the lyrics to come popping through. Although that may sound a little disparaging, it isn’t supposed to. The beat brings it all together and adds a joy to the collection in the same way The Specials did for Ghost Town.

The Bakesys cite Zen Baseballbat as an influence for this album, among others,, and you can really hear this come through but with their own spin. Although across the whole album, the title track Freezing Cold In The Summer Sun, is a great example of this. Where Zen Baseballbat have a full sound, this song never really gets above three layers; the beat, vocal, guitar, bass and keyboard become isolated. It sounds like the combination of these five layers rarely happens, but each layer is left to stand by itself creating a dub feel to the presentation. The addition of the sombre lyrics ‘The streets are paved with gold, but you can’t walk that road. Hopes and dreams come true, just not for me and you’ bring it together and surprisingly gives a ray of hope, as you feel like you are not alone.

The first track ‘We’re Not Having Fun’ is a little more upbeat in tempo and sound, and sets the tone for the full album.  It shows who the Bakesys are as a band and echoes back to their early releases like ‘Golden Brown Slices Of Toast’ (one of my favourites – and I’m not a great fan of toast – although I eat it most days) and it also teaches that music can be more than just technical twiddling. The familiarity breeds trust and sets you in the right direction for what is about to come your way. 

The overall effect of the album is to leave you with a sense of hope in a sea of misery. The hope being that things can’t really get much worse. I admire the cynicism and the approach of the magnificent Bakesys for putting out such a gleeful dirge. In the nine hundred years this band has been around, it makes you think they’ve still got another nine hundred years left in them.

I first came across the band when they were supporting Call Me Malcolm, to be fair they all looked like uneducated roadies trying to work out where the stage was, however when they struck up their instruments they still looked like a bunch of uneducated roadies but they then transformed into a tight ball of high energy, performance loving, tight knit friends who (literally) bounced off each other (it was a small venue) in a way that only familiarity and contempt can foster.

The album is a joy of the ska punk genre. It kicks off with a disjointed voice giving free and easy advice on how to enjoy travel whilst moving rapidly forwards towards oblivion. The tracks then easily spin through your head like a double edged throwing star leaving a trail of ripped up brain matter, and that’s just from the vocals; you can honestly say the band don’t carry a pitch perfect nightingale, however the delivery of voice and harmony suits the overall nature/production style of the album.

The first true track is ‘Looking for a Scene’, released a few weeks ago as a taster to this release. It’s a good move as it brings familiarity with the style and sets you up nicely for the journey through the album. There is no mistaking that it is Nutty Skunk you are listening to as it sits nicely with previous released tracks such as ‘I be Zombie’ and ‘Mondeo Man’. The stand out element which makes Looking for a Scene stand out are the lyrics. They have raised the sophistication and social commentary which sparks the imagination of the listener, especially one of this age growing up to a sound track of The Specials. It holds an echo of Ghost Town, but a version written by Shane McGowen and John Lydon. The blend of high tension upstrokes and blended brass always makes me sit up straight, but this one also pokes you in the eye and tells you to shut up.

My favourite and stand out track is the brilliant ‘Listen To Us’. The drums kick in, a lazy keyboard joins, slow guitar strokes take a couple of bars and then dies to leave an empty sound for the voice to drop in. The juxtaposition of the drumming tempo and the rest of the instruments leaves you feeling like you are rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time, whilst trying to include the offbeat. This track is social commentary at best, the rise of racism in our society is a force we need to challenge, and Nutty Skunk does this so well here. 

Every track on the album is worth its slot. The subversive humour of the interludes are there because of their added value and not just time fillers. The guys in Nutty Skunk should be so chuffed with themselves over this album and although I would never want them to lose their bottom of the bill attitude, they are now looking like a force to be reckoned with.

With Nutty Skunk and many others including Call Me Malcolm, Popes of Chillitown, Bar Stool Preachers, Filthy Militia, The Stiff Joints to name but a few, the genre is growing rapidly, and with releases like this it deserves the prominence it is getting. 

If you want to cut a three hour car journey down to two, put this album on, your foot will be to the floor and your voice will raise the roof. Nice one guys, you really are doing yourselves proud. This reviewer is looking forward to the next one and lamenting the days inbetween. 

Review By: Catflea Massacre

The EP opens with the upbeat ‘Another Day’, which when listening to the lyrics, it maybe shouldn’t be called upbeat. ‘When I wake up in the morning and as I try to rise, I can’t see the sun for the smoke before my eyes’ is the first line that greets you, or maybe grabs you. It pricks the ears and you question the fight between the music and the lyrics. As the song progresses through the middle eight it draws you in with the stabs between the drums and brass. The whole effect is to give you something that counterbalances euphoria and depression felt by the protagonist.

I’m not going to give a description of every belting track as I would be describing every track in minute detail, however my favourite comes in the form of Beatdown. There’s something tantalising about a reggae track from a predominantly ska punk band; unlike a standard reggae track (and don’t get me wrong, I love reggae) where you kind of get where a track is going, and there are no real surprises, with a ska punk band you are never quite sure, it could take a turn to the heavy at any moment, it could blast your toes out of your socks at any moment. Does it? I’m not saying, but, it could also drop to such an empty sound you can hear the sound engineers hair grow. Does it? I’m not saying.

 To say the EP has five tracks, and I’m specifically mentioning three, yes Land Of The Dead is a classic track where you find yourself quickly joining in with the lyrics as the tempo drives it forward, it shows the quality of the sound. The lyrics are clever. The musicianship is spot on. The sound is clean. The ear buds are in. The dog is on his lead. And… I’m going to stomp around the neighbourhood, yet again, listening to a class band.

I admire the modern band that can address mental illness whilst standing proud and not allowing the old perceived ideas through. The theme is a direct ‘punch in the face’ to those who say “just pull your socks up”. Bands like Filthy Militia and Call Me Malcolm are highlighting the effects of a demanding modern world and asking their listeners to take a little time for themselves. Self care and self love are an important factor: we are only human as far as I can see, and we all need a place in society. 

‘It’s differences that make us, that how it goes, it doesn’t mean that tonight has got to end on a bloody nose’ – Differences

Review By: Catflea Massacre

Not until the third track, Habit of Happiness do we get the silky vocals which helps switch mode slightly as we hit big band territory. The change in style reminds me of the great Cab Calloway singing Minnie The Moocher in The Blues Brothers, not the genre but the visual transformation from a band of ragtag musicians to the perfectly dressed white tux’ed band who are so smooth they ooze. This slight shift only adds to the album, as it takes you from that slight skank and has you adding a Sinatra slide. The highlight to the song is the cheeky ending; I’ve listened to the song quite a few times and every time I’ve found myself with a smug satisfied grin on my face because of it.

The fantastic Grey Ghost (Track 7) is fantastic. It’s simplicity and the odd note change you don’t expect adds the extra dimension.

There is no real stand out track on the album, they all deliver quality, however I am partial to a well crafted instrumental, something to do with my love of dub, and there is no shortage of well-crafted instrumentals.

The album fits nicely into your collection as it could be played anywhere. This is one that can be playing in the background or up front directly into the ears as you power along to the offbeat dragging your dog at a pace that doesn’t allow them any ‘personal’ time, or even laying on the bed whilst you get lost in the subtlety of the arrangements.

If you enjoy the sounds of traditional big band ska, then this will suit you down to the ground. It delivers exactly what you would expect. As it states on WSTSO Bandcamp page: This group of Jamaican jazz gunslingers is rebranding the music of yesteryear and propelling it into the future!

Written By: Catflea Massacre

The EP kicks off with the classic track Higher The Monkey, originally recorded by Justin Hynds and the Dominoes; maybe by design or by accident the track exposes their subdued approach to standing out from the crowd: ‘the higher the monkey climbs, the more he expose’. You just have to see their Facebook banner to see not one is comfortable being out front and in the limelight. I may be wrong on this, or I may not. It all adds to the mystery.

The subsequent tracks are written by Patrick Carayannis and he shows he knows what he’s doing. The lyrics are not trying to be clever, again understated, but very effective when added to the arrangements. The mix is subtle, every musician can be heard. There are no sharp edges, each note rolls into the next with ease and tickles the tympanic gland of the listener. 

The stand out track from the EP, if there is one, is the slow, rolling Up She Flew. There is something about the track that I can envision snails skanking down the road to, at the pace a snail would skank down the road.  Although one of the slowest, the lazy brass stabs gives it a counterpoint to the overall atmosphere. The vocals sound like they are a struggle to get out as the vocalist could be dressed in pyjamas, hot chocolate in hand, a pillow calling  as they  undertake a long climb of the stairs. 

This EP is not one to get everyone moving, it is a lay on the bed, headphones in ears and a precursor to a drift. I love this music, it’s relaxing, it’s different to the standard offbeat shenanigans and washes you with a calming influence. The guys in The Pisoegs should be proud of their creation and it’s a brilliant addition to the back catalogue. 

The Pisoegs are one band I’m hoping to see live, and hopefully when we finally get ourselves out of this imposed lockdown there will be a chance.

Check out the album from the link below and for a couple of quid it’s worth adding to any collection… I’m already looking forward to their next release.

 Review by Catflea Massacre

Something of an elusive band despite twenty years presence on the UK ska scene, the early stages of The Bakesys reflected heavily on punk inspirations, such as the Buzzcocks, crossed with later developments of a definite Two-Tone influence. Sentences I’d Like to Hear the End of takes it to whole other level. Akin to what On-U Sound did for dub in the nineties, sprinkling in a counter culture punk ethos, The Bakesys do for ska. It’s more upbeat than the usual plod of dub, but strewn with samples, heavy basslines, and drum machine loops, it has its elements.

From another angle though, as Dreadzone meld such influences into the electronic dance scene, there’s a contemporary sound, a mesh of offbeat influences with the Bakesys, more in line with the current ska scene. The flood of brass and chugging rhythms confirms its allegiance to authentic 1960’s Jamaican ska. What comes out the end is unique beguiling buoyancy, and it’s absolutely addictive.

Yet we’re only scraping the surface of why, the theme of the album is the kingpin here. Reflecting the era of its influences, subjects are historic affairs based in the sixties. The opening title track raps of Christine Keeler and the Profumo Affair. Get Your Moonboots on is on Apollo 11’s moon landing, and the third, most haunting tune, You are Leaving the American Sector takes newsreels of the Berlin Wall. One I’ve been playing endlessly the single of on my Friday night Boot Boy radio show.

Atomic Invasion explores the Cold War, yet, as with Keeler, this sublime set of songs often concentrates more on the personalities than facts of the events. The Space Race is up next, with a nod to Yuri Gagarin’s luminary. Then it’s the Cuban Missile Crisis with the numerous failed attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro, Cassius Clay’s rise to heavyweight champion of the world, and Robert F. Kennedy’s assignation.

Despite these often-dark subjects, it’s surprisingly upbeat, as if, like I said, The Bakeseys are the funky relief history teacher, and your class is about get moon stomping! The last three tracks offers dub versions of the most poignant tunes on offer here, yet the album as a complete concept is nothing short of brilliant.

The third CD album released on Bandcamp, and quite the best place to start if you’re unaware of them. Keyboardist Kevin Flowerdew, has self-published the ska scene’s definitive zine, Do The Dog Skazine for many decades, which has released this under its label namesake, Do the Dog Music, so he certainly knows what makes a great sound; which this does with bells on.

By Darren Worrow
Originally posted on Devizine.com

Drums kick in with a familiar roll and then the defining sound of the band breaks through: the sousaphone, the trip-trapping of the piano like a little spring lamb frolicking in the grass, the empty sound of dub highlighting every instrument as it joins in. These guys know how to make music.

I know the human bodies which house their lizard occupants are putting out sneaky peeks of the album via the King Zepha YouTube channel, but is it really them? It sounds like them, in fact track two ‘Bottom Of The Pile’ sounds more like King Zepha than King Zepha sound like King Zepha. 

The album is a triumph. On first listening I found myself sitting in Tesco car park, window down trying not to look like I thought I was cool, but also thinking ‘This is f*cking brilliant’. Taking a bunch of well constructed songs, adding the elements of dub, striping out the sound and delivering a 1920’s Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes tribute act (and I had to Google that).

Now I could go down the playlist and give a description of every track declaring them all with a bunch of superlatives, however, for me, the stand out track from the whole collection is the mighty ‘Al Baba’; a favourite from the original Northern Sounds album. It is held so close to the original masterpiece, yet stands so far away. The brass section is full, the sousaphone drives the beat, the guitar upbeat and smiley, the keyboard is sporadic and repeats the musical theme throughout. Classic King Zepha. 

The album is set to be released on 16th July. However you can pre-order the album and receive the track ‘Made In Hong Kong’ or you can watch their releases over the next couple of weeks via Intergalactic Brasstronauts | Facebook or Intergalactic Brasstronauts – YouTube

However you get to this album, it’s well worth it. 

By Catflea Massacre