The Bakesys – King of Ska

12 tracks of ska deliciousness make up this latest release from Berkshire, UK based The Bakesys.

I first heard The Bakesys when I was sent their first ever cassette, ‘Animated Violence’ to review for a fanzine I edited back around 1995. I instantly loved their music and their follow up self-titled CD in 1997 didn’t change my mind.

Turns out things still haven’t changed! This is another great offering from the Newbury outfit.

The album kicks of with the deep baselines of ‘I’ve Seen You Before” and sets you up for what is to come.

‘On the Way Back Home’ has the legendary line, “Never Ever, Never Ever going to drink again” – Yeah right! 😄 It’s one of the standout tracks for me and the lyrics tell a story that is strangely familiar!

‘The Return of The Liquidator’ takes me right back as it’s a reimagining of their 1997 CD release track “The Lick”.

Another standout track follows – ‘A Penny for Your Thoughts My Dear’ and if you are aware of The Bakesys, you’ll know they recently rewrote this one with Christmas themed lyrics.

Next up are ‘Do you Want a Picture?’ and ‘Tricky Situation’, a fast paced bouncing number, followed by a slow-paced reggae style track, both excellent.

The heavy reggae theme is continued with ‘Me, Myself and I’ next, with an electronic reggae bass. I love this track, the third of the standout tracks.

‘Standout tracks – The horn-driven ‘A penny for your thoughts my dear’, ‘Me, myself and I’, ‘Far as the Eye Can See’ follows and picks the pace up a little, followed ‘Easy Come, Easy Go’,

‘The Lovecats Made us Dance Some More’ tells the story of pretty much everyone’s youth. Youth clubs, hanging around the shops, drinking, awkward fumbling…it’s all there!

The slow-paced reggae sound then makes a reappearance with ‘Duck and Cover’, set to the words from a film of the same name, and featuring a rather warfare savvy turtle called Bert! Watched by U.S. schoolchildren in schools in the 1950’s, it warned them of the dangers of the atom bomb.

The album is finished of with a mix of melodic ska and deep electronic sounds (it works!), and is simply an ode to the late great Terry Hall, a great way to end another great offering from The Bakesys.

Available on all good streaming sites, there is also a VERY limited CD release available here:
THE BAKESYS KING OF SKA CD – DO THE DOG MUSIC (tumblr.com)

Oh yes, and that review I mentioned I wrote all those years ago…

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