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The Skints

Part & Parcel

Written by: PP on 13/06/2012 04:17:27

You gotta love it when bands successfully mix and blend together genres in an experimental way, where the outcome is something unique where you can safely say you've never heard it done quite like this before. Now, that's not quite true with The Skints because I happen to be a huge fan of fellow British ska/reggae/punk hybrid Sonic Boom Six, but aside from them and the ragga metallers in Skindred, The Skints are probably the only ones playing music that bears even slight resemblance to the reggae/dub/punk fusion that they pull off here on their new album "Part & Parcel".

Not surprisingly, they originate from London, where this kind of multiculturalism and crisscrossing of different ethnic backgrounds happens on a daily basis. As such, "Part & Parcel" carries a particularly vibrant and exciting mood to it, despite it's constant laid back vibe that originates from the reggae culture (and originally from Jamaica, of course). It all sounds very much like the general ambience in London much in the same way as Gallows' "Grey Britain" carried the quintessential vibe of England as a whole, and that's a feat difficult to achieve considering the 10 million+ people who live in the greater London area. More specifically, "Part & Parcel" sounds like it's coming straight out of Camden, the northern area of London, where the blending of people with different backgrounds and vibrant underground culture is perhaps at its most visible to the visiting tourist. That's also why their female vocalist has a little bit of punk rebellion in her voice, despite the relaxed tempo to all songs, causing "Ratatat" or "Live East Die Young" to sound a lot like the reggae/ska songs by Sonic Boom Six, who are also fronted by a rebellious female for those not in the know.

She's not alone, though, as she's constantly contesting for space on the mic from a male vocalist who sounds a bit more like your regular ska (note: not ska-punk) vocalist. The duo have a nice dynamic throughout, and when the instrumentation follows reggae/ska, with the occasional dip into Random Hand style ska-metal and Skindred style ragga-whatever, the resulting soundscape is a unique and refreshing one. But all of it can really be summarised by one song, the brilliant "Rubadub (Done Know)", which is maddeningly catchy in its reggae/rub/grime(?) chorus that rivals anything Sonic Boom Six have written during their career. It's danceable in the shake-your-booty kind of way (just like the rest of the album), but not in a pop/RnB kind of way that would turn off fans of punk/rock in general, rather in the same way as ska basically demands you to move your hips. That's the beauty of "Part & Parcel" overall: it definitely has cross-genre appeal, and perhaps also potential to be a transition album from reggae/RnB fans into the world of rock music, and why not vice versa too?

Download: Rubadub (Done Know), Ratatat
For the fans of: Sonic Boom Six, Skindred, Random Hand, Mouthwash
Listen: Facebook

Release date 12.03.2012
Bomber Music