When I first put on West Yorkshires Skank Agenda new album
Hate This Shit on I was taken aback by its sound. When I saw the name and read
some of the song titles on the CD (We Would Like To Apologise For The Poor,
Stuck On Destroy for example) I expected some fast political ska punk in the
same vein as Florida’s Against All Authority (criminally underrated band). I
was quite wrong with my guess. Hate This Shit is a stripped back acoustic ska
punk album, a sound I hadn’t really heard all that much before.
Hate This Shit starts off with the song Kids Of The
Caribiners. The rawness of the album is presented straight away with the song
using only guitars and lots of gang vocals it sets it gives you a feel of what
to expect from the rest of the release.
The first song that really stood out for me was Gary Oldman. This fun song
about the Hollywood actor again features lots of gang vocals and a really
catchy chorus.
We Would Like To Apologise For The Poor is the first song
where a full band is used. This political song about being looked down upon if
you’re not part of the 1%. The rawness on this record really gives the song an extra
shot in the arm of passion that you might not get using electric instruments.
Kind of like the energy and passion that was on Against Me!’s early EPs. This
is followed by the song Me and George Clooney. Starting off with a calypso
style guitar riff the song tells what I’m guessing is fictitious account of a
day spent with Batman himself.
The light hearted feel of Me and George Clooney goes
straight away on the next song, Numbers Game. This song is an all out assault on
the people running the country and why they are hated. So much anger is spewed
out of lead singer Alejandro's vocals. Accompanied by some harmonies that sound
like they could be from a cult, it really adds some atmosphere. This is
followed by the excellent Educating Richard. This is a song I can easily relate
to. I’m always trying to get people to listen to punk rock music, I truly
believe some of the greatest songs ever written lie in the genre and I get so
frustrated when people refuse to listen because they have a preconception of
what punk rock music is. That’s what Educating Richard is about.
Track nine, For You is another stand out. The fastest paced
song on Hate This Shit is about the things Alejandro would do for someone he
loves. If a punk rocker ever wants to declare his love for someone, this is the
song to cover. Great fun! Pete On Drugs is about the struggles of drug
addiction. This is the most heartfelt song on the album. The introduction of
the female harmonies midway through the song was a masterstroke in giving the
song some emotion. I found myself feeling slightly emotional during this
section thinking of some friends who have struggled with addiction. It really
didn’t expect to get this sort of feeling when listening to Hate This Shit, a
testament to some great song writing by the band. The album finishes with the
song Atonement. An acoustic punk song telling the government to take responsibility
for their mistakes and to make up for them.
For me it did take a little while to really get Hate This
Shit. This was probably due to the unique sound that really surprised me.
Honestly I probably wouldn’t have given it a second listen if I wasn’t
reviewing it but boy I’m glad I did! On Hate This Shit Skank Agenda have
written a collection on very unique and interesting songs covering a wide range
of topics. Everything you would expect from a punk album, songs about
frustrations, drugs, politics and of course love. Give Skank Agenda a chance;
you’ll be glad you did. I am.
Listen to more from Skank Agenda here: https://skankagenda.bandcamp.com
Now listening to Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious (Acoustic) by Against Me!
No comments:
Post a Comment