Motherfish #17- Friends of Ellen DeGeneres

Album of the Week

I need to start out by apologizing; these next two reviews (today’s and next Tuesday’s) are going to be a little shorter than normal because as the semester winds down, my workload is becoming near unbearable. If that offends you or makes you think that I’m a worthless sonofa bitch and my writing isn’t worth reading, fuck you leave now and never return. If you’re a decent human being with even the tiniest shred of empathy, go right ahead and keep reading. So here we are, the second Tuesday of May, a month full of local music. I’m really glad that I’m taking the time to feature some of these bands. They work their asses off to make the best music that they can and well I’m trying to give them the recognition that they deserve. This week’s band is a gem of local talent that I came across at school, and I have the pleasure of knowing most of these fine gentlemen. They’re currently in the studio recording their first release, but they deserve the heads up anyway. Yes, I know it says Album of the Week right up there, but this is my blog and I’ll do whatever the fuck I want, and I want to review this band regardless of whether or not they have an album out because they’re awesome. And that counts for a lot these days. ONE MORE THING before I get to the music. Actually it’s not important. But somebody did pee on my fridge this past weekend.

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Dancehall Throwdown

I have a lot of playlists for different moods or for different activities. And, like the big loser that I am, I have a playlist called “FUN!!” spelled exactly like that. It’s got a lot of high energy bands like Blink 182 (who I am definitely seeing this summer, by the way) and Jimmy Eat World on it, but other than those two it’s mostly ska bands. Ska? What the hell? Is that even a word? Yes, idiot. For those who were actually asking themselves those questions, ska is a music of genre which branched off of punk and includes a brass section, usually a trumpet or two, a trombone, and often a sax of some sort. A few of the big names in ska are Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto, and Catch 22. Right now every hardcore ska fan who reads this is yelling that I forgot to include his favorite band and is probably typing a very angry email. Don’t. I figured these are the most notable four. One of the more interesting facts about ska is that it’s a very well contained genre; aka a ska band is a ska band. There really is no discrepancy about it. You could argue for months over whether Cursive is art-punk or indie-rock or noise-thrash or goth-pop or whatever gives you a boner and never reach any conclusion (which is why I try and make it known that my categories are just rough ideas as to what kind of sound a band has). But when you hear ska, you know it’s ska. There’s no arguing about it. Because of that, it’s fairly easy to group ska bands together and talk in general terms. SO I WILL.

Ska is some of the most enjoyable music out there, the brass section adds a brightness and catchiness to the already energetic punk guitar and drums. Dancehall Throwdown takes this to heart. There’s a difference between playing a genre of music really well and being lazy. DHTD plays ska really well. They went with a larger brass section, adding a tenor sax and a baritone sax (a big one and a little one), which gives them, a much fuller sound because of the wider range of tones hit, something that adds to their overall appeal. I don’t know, maybe it’s because some of them are music majors, but they grasp a concept that too often a lot of ska bands fail to even recognize. Balance. Balance between the guitar and the brass. So many bands have songs where it’s one or the other and rarely do the two interact. DHTD utilizes a seamless blend of the brass and the guitar, something I greatly appreciate, and also it adds to the maturity of their sound. My astute readers just did two things: pat themselves on the back for knowing what astute means and recognizing themselves as one of the few, and noticed a recurring theme in the local bands I’ve reviewed so far. Maturity of sound, ladies and gentlemen. Dancehall has it. It’s what makes a band sound like a band and not a random assortment of musicians running around in circles with their cocks out. Although DHTD may or may not have their cocks out, they are certainly a band and they sound like it. Closing comment! Pure fun ska band with more than its fair share of talented musicians adding a well rounded sound usually only found in experienced, more established ska bands.

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Unfortunately there’s not going to be a sample today, or next week, for time saving purposes. The good news is, you kind of actually get more than one sample! HERE is the MYSPACE link for Dancehall Throwdown, and I’m going to send you all over to their page to check it out. Listen to “Grogan”, that’s one hell of a good song. If you’re looking for a comparison, think Streetlight Manifesto plus a little Less Than Jake minus some of the pop-ish-ness and throw in badass guitar chops.

http://www.myspace.com/dancehallthrowdown

Check the shit out of that band! Join me next week for something completely different.