Joe Gittleman

REVIEW: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Let’s Face It (1997)

THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES – Let’s Face It (1997 Mercury)

Once upon a time I thought Dicky Barrett was the most ridiculous singer I ever heard.  That still might be true.  His low growl is part Tom Waits and part Sherman tank.  Fortunately the three piece horn section of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones is capable of delivering all the good clean melodic hooks.  This leaves Barrett to deliver verbal gut punches while gargling glass mixed with sandpaper.  1997’s Let’s Face It was their breakthrough.  It’s a fine honing of their frantic ska-punk rave ups with a commercial understanding.

All the tracks are dance-able, it’s just a matter of slow or fast.  Most are fast!  “Noise Brigade” starts the party with some serious skanking, but the Bosstones give you a chance to breathe on hit “The Rascal King”.  You can sing along while you get down:  “The last hoorah?  Nah I’d do it again!”  Gentler reggae picking soon gives way to a chorus full of punch.  The horns (Tim “Johnny Vegas” Burton – sax, Kevin Lenear – sax, and Dennis Brockenborough – trombone) are a major part of another big hit, “Royal Oil”.  Great trombone solo, and upbeat chorus despire its dire anti-drug message.

This cluster of hits concludes with the big one, “The Impression That I Get”, #1 on the Canadian rock charts, was all over the place in ’97-’98. For good reason. If you could distil the Bosstones down to a chewable concentrate, it would probably taste exactly like “The Impression That I Get”.  Written by Barrett and bassist Joe Gittleman, it’s simply impossible not to move to this one.  The hooks that the horns deliver are just important as the chorus.  Both are equally timeless.  Nate Albert on guitar is the rhythmic master of ceremony, with the tricky offbeat reggae stylings mixed with metal pick slides.  While we’re handing out kudos, drummer Joe Sirois hits hard, but check out his cool shuffle at the end of the song.  Meanwhile, dancer Ben Carr makes his biggest impression (that I get) in the music video, as the newspaper-reading dude in a suit just dancing through various shots.  Brilliant video, too — cool use of backwards photography at the start.  The stark white background with the sleak dark suits matches the whole image and vibe of the Let’s Face It album.  Barrett looks about to burst of blood vessel when delivering that yell before the chorus.  The video was always in heavy rotation in Canada that year.

It doesn’t matter that there aren’t any singles left, because this is an album of great songs from top to bottom.  The title track could have been a fourth single.  Upbeat with hooky horns and a very important message:  “We sure weren’t put here to hate, be racist, be sexist, be bigots, be sure.  We won’t stand for your hate.”  Two decades before “woke” culture”, the Bosstones were already leading the charge.  And the message is as true then or now.

They take it heavy again on “That Bug Bit Me”, but with the horn section to the melodic rescue.  Nate Albert’s penchant for the odd metal hook makes a return, but the horns dominate “Another Drinkin’ Song”.  It starts slow and ominous but picks up and turns on the party hooks once more.  “Numbered Days” lets a guitar riff stand out, but Barrett’s barrelling baritone is a force to reckon with here.

Through to the end, there are no low points.  It’s just a matter of style and what hooks are the ones that stick.  “Break So Easily”, “Nevermind Me”, and “Desensitized” all hit the mark.  But closer “1-2-8” is mental.  And that’s the party in 33 minutes.  Over before you know it.  A perfect album.

5/5 stars

 

REVIEW: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection (2005)

THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES – 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection (2005 Universal)

Every journey has a first step, and by luck of the draw, my first Bosstones is their 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection CD.   This was purchased in the 3-for-$10 bin at BMV, during the now-legendary 2018 Toronto excursion with Aaron.  It was the only Bosstones found on that trip, unfortunately, but one is better than nothin’.

I like Universal’s 20th Century Masters series; most of them anyway.  Some are pretty terrible, but in general they compile key hits with the occasional non-album gem.  The Bosstones’ instalment covers the major label period from 1993’s Ska-Core, The Devil, and More EP to 2000’s album Pay Attention.  Pretty much “the stuff you might know”.   I say this because I knew a lot of these songs.  Which is good!

It’s the brass that makes everything sound so damn tasty.  The first blockbuster punch of “Someday I Suppose” and “Don’t Know How to Party” bring the horns to the fore.  When you have a gravel-voiced singer like Dicky Barrett it helps to have some sax and trombone to deliver more melodic hooks.  This frees Barrett to sing in his in inimitable style, scraping the paint from the walls with sonic sandpaper.

The rest of the band are more than capable of handling background vocal chores, as demonstrated by the 1993 Bob Marley cover “Simmer Down”. Dennis Brockenborough (trombone) ably joins Barrett for “answer” vocals, enriching the Bosstones’ brew.  The quality cover tune is swiftly followed by another:  “Detroit Rock City” from the 1994 Kiss tribute album Kiss My Ass.  Catch the Gene Simmons cameo at the front, telling Dicky he couldn’t do “Detroit” but any other song would be fine.  Gene was forced to eat his words, because here’s “Detroit”, with a brick-solid wall of horns and chords.  Inclusions like this are great because fans who didn’t want a Kiss tribute album and can’t find the single can just buy 20th Century Masters instead.

Moving on chronologically, “Kinder Words” and “Pictures to Prove It” are more tough, hook-laden ska rock.  Tracing the river of cool hooks back to its source, they rise from the well of brassy horns and backing gang vocal melodies.  The Bosstones formula is hard to resist once you jump in.  Then, once Dicky Barrett’s unique voice gets hold, you’re in the tide.  From the same period, a “clean remix” of “Hell of a Hat” is another inclusion that would help out collectors; it’s from a promo-only CD single.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones had a major hit with 1997’s “The Impression That I Get”.  It’s completely deserved because it’s a brilliant single.  It doesn’t vary from the core Bosstones sound, it just distils the elements down to a concentrate.  It’s an obvious gateway point to the band, an invitation to a pretty cool party.  From the same album (Let’s Face It) are two more recognisable hits:  “Royal Oil” and “The Rascal King”.  And though they are not as familiar, “So Sad to Say” and “She Just Happened” from Pay Attention are pretty much just as good.

This is one 20th Century Masters CD that I don’t regret owning.  Brilliant band, solid tunes throughout and a couple rarities for the connoisseur.  Get Mighty.

4/5 stars