Mad Caddies – Arrows Room 17
Around since 1995, Mad Caddies hail from California which just seems to have a non-stop breeding program of ska bands. It really must be something in the water there!
This is the eighth full length album from the band, and the first since the excellent ‘Punk Rocksteady’ in 2018 (I still can’t get over how good the cover of Green Days ‘She’ was on that album).
Anyway, this album doesn’t disappoint either. Kicking off with the beautiful ‘Green Eyes’, and followed by the excellent ‘Palm Trees and Pines’, it gets off to a top quality start.
The album then shoots off on a tangent with the title track ‘Arrows Room 17’, a non-ska wall of sound – big band, blues, rock anthem – it’s all there!
‘Beautiful Bed’ then swings you back to the sound of original Jamaican Ska & Reggae. With summer fast approaching, i can see myself sat in the garden with a beer listening to this one (if the UK get a summer this year at least!).
Genre-busting is on the cards again with the next track ‘Darkness’, a folk-rock sounding track that wouldn’t sound out of place on a ‘Saw Doctors’ album. It’s a cracking tune.
And the album continues in this vein. Ska/Reggae mixed in with various other sounds and it works really well. From the ‘Everywhere You Go (There You Are)’ – a pure ska number to ‘Run’, another folk-rock number and then the brilliant ‘Baby’ – country with horns!
It’s a bit of a departure from their previous releases and it’s not an album for the ska purists, but there is enough in there to keep them happy and if you like your ska and reggae served up with something a bit different, this album is definitely for you. I loved it!
It’s obviously available on streaming sites but also on vinyl fromt he following link:
SBÄM Shop (sbam.rocks)
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