Think about it…īreaking Point is dark and has a haunting fairground feel reminiscent of The Good The Bad & The Queen, loads of oompah shit and swirling keyboards. A cracking rework of The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum, it’s a proper slow burning ska/reggae head nodder and the lyrics are as relevant today as they were back in the day. This next track is a pleasant surprise being a Fun Boy Three track.
SPECIALS ENCORE CRACK
Taking a crack at politicians with intelligence, it’s haunting and has the Ghost Town comparisons which I reckon has been done on purpose just to fuck the purists off! A brilliant track that takes me back but has been polished by the brilliant musicians on board. The thing is the lyrics are all layered over a fuckin ace Funkadelic type tune that has your head nodding and your arse wiggling.
His father facing the ‘No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish Slogans, his own journey through school being labelled ‘ black bastard’, then his experiences in the USA and the N***** word. (Black Lives Matter) a track which covers three generations of dealing with racism after the Windrush. It actually sounds like something Winachi Tribe are doing at the moment which is not a bad thing if Terry Hall has been listening. Three key players are still here and the replacement members Steve Cradock (Ocean Colour Scene) on guitar, Kenrick Rowe the master ska/reggae drummer and Nikolaj Torp Larsen on keyboards all give this album a modernist feel to bring you into the future.įirst track is a cover of The Equals – Black Skinned Blue-Eyed Boys and it’s transformed into a disco funk number that will throw the early fans like me. You may miss the great toasting from Neville and the pure ska look of Dammers but move on. Just remember, they all had an input, and to me Terry Hall was that crucial element with his unique vocal that sounds so familiar even today. They were a crucial part to the band at that time, however things move on. The purists out there will say “oooh, The Specials aren’t The Specials without Jerry Dammers or Neville Staple” Ok, point taken. My first score (ahem) was Ghost Town with it’s haunting menacing sound and stark lyrics about the state of Thatcher’s Britain and the scary streets of Coventry back in the day. Now I had a bit of pocket money I could actually buy records. I was already a music junkie and The Specials were one of those bands that made me jump up and down with their early hits like Concrete Jungle and Too Much Too Young. I got a paper round and started to save my money to buy the latest 7in vinyl from Woolworths. Basically this band changed it all for me and stopped me being a little fucker. Wayne Carey gets all excited and is not disappointed!īack when their hit single Ghost Town was released on the masses I was an 11 year old nuisance, buzzing off all the E numbers in the sweets and crisps running riot on a council estate up North. After 37 years from the release of Ghost Town, The Specials are back with Terry Hall, Lynval Golding, Horace Panter and co with this modern uptake on life in Britain and how it’s (not) changed much from the bleak times of the late seventies / early eighties.