Review Summary: Who do Voodoo? We do!
During most of his life, the masked luchador who was referred to as Insane Chimera had more supporters than he did oppressors. In the country of Spain, he swiftly became a legendary icon among his people just for how charismatic, powerful, and all-around likeable the figure would be. However, as is the case with all sorts of heroes and villains, Insane Chimera's fame and fortune did not last. One ghastly, unfortunate night, he began to hear demonic voices inside his head – most of whom were telling him to give up his wrestling career and kill everyone that stood by his side through all the joy and pain. Understandably reluctant, the man soon surrendered to the dark side. Somehow managing to annihilate the ones he cherished for what seemed like eternity with lethal wrestling moves, Insane Chimera was banished from his homeland and had no other places to go. Weeks went by akin to a bullet train. As he started to regret his previous misdeeds and contemplate suicide, a trio of brothers met up with I.C., convincing the guy to make amends and begin that career of his anew. This wasn't an easy task, but the once-renowned wrestler felt that it was high time he moved on. Luck eventually returned to Insane Chimera – now a better person, intolerant of cowardice above all else – and it's thanks to one band who had the power to make this all plausible. “Who was this musical group,” you're pondering? They were none other than your friendly neighborhood
Voodoo Glow Skulls.
Coming from the area of Riverside, California, Voodoo Glow Skulls are a ska punk act capable of running with the best of them in said genre. Conceived by Eddie, Frank, and Jorge Casillas alongside longtime amigo Jerry O'Neill, the Skulls made their dream of becoming an ensemble as far back as 1988. It wasn't until five years after their formation, though, that they would ever gain popularity. With the release of
Who Is, This Is? in the year of '93 VGS' debut full-length outing grabbed the attention of Epitaph Records owner Brett Gurewitz. The latter allowed these compadres to join the label, unleashing five studio recordings via Epitaph in the process; each of them have their fair share of admirers and a couple detractors, which is nothing out of the ordinary. This band has since recorded another four albums: three were made available through the Chicago-based company Victory Records, while Voodoo Glow Skulls' latest offering,
Break the Speak, was a self-released product.
Speaking of the material VGS had mustered up around the Victory Era, the first one of those LPs is an experience the band remains proud of. Entitled
Steady As She Goes, the 12-track effort (13 if you count “Little Red Riding Hood”) smacked its consumers right on the noggin July 2nd, 2002. From a musical standpoint, the album features the Skulls' traditional fusion of old-school ska song structures, a punk rock attitude, and metallic riffs. This is a formula that the band certainly knows how to work with to their advantage. The title ditty, for one, is a prime example of that. A majority of third-wave ska entourages are hardly strangers to bearing upbeat song arrangements, guitar distortion, and – last, but definitely not least – strong horn sections, and Voodoo Glow Skulls aren't the exception to this rule. To put it in layman's terms, there are a slew of
Steady As She Goes' songs that become a party after a mere twelve seconds. The amount of enjoyability one can have jamming to these songs notwithstanding, however, a lack of songwriting depth does become apparent. You'll later find that some pieces either sound too similar or just don't work in the context of this album. Take “The Basketball Song”, for instance: the sloppy instrumentation here amalgamated with a limited supply of self-explanatory lyrics (
”Gimme the ball/The basketball”;
”I got the ball”) are this track's biggest problems. Also, “Voodoo Anthem” is an unimpressive way to kick things off, seeing how our ska-core bandits act as if they wanted to throw that in
Steady As She Goes for the sake of it.
The craftsmanship fortunately doesn't fare worse than the songcraft, as VGS fire on all cylinders while barely missing a beat. The contributions courtesy of guitarists Eddie and Jorge are appreciated, with the two pirates cooperating very well together and hardly feeling left out. Surprisingly, “Ethnic Cleansing Day” contains not a sign of brass instruments, but it also allows for the brothers to unveil tasty chord progressions that ultimately define this song in particular. “New Jerk Swing” is one of my favorites off full-length numero seis, in which track #11 displays some rather light-hearted riffage that works in tandem with the gracious usage of horns. Drummer Jerry O'Neill is no slouch himself in terms of overall credibility. His patterns and fills can pack a nasty punch when needed, if the Hispanic-tinged flavor of “La Llorona” and an abrasive power lying within “High Society” can demonstrate O'Neill's skills behind the drum kit. On top of all that, no Voodoo Glow Skulls review would be complete by disregarding what Frank Casillas has to offer. Taking his role in the band into account, the quality of Frank's recognizable vocals shan't be forgotten. The delivery of his own lyrical content on the likes of “Interstate Disease” and “The Rat Traps” remains loveable at best and sort of unbearable at worst. Weak production values are rampant throughout
Steady As She Goes' duration, sadly enough, so Frank does end up sounding overwhelmed by the instrumentalists on occasion. The mixing in question has this irksome tendency to emphasize the trumpet-and-trombone combo over the vocal performance and guitar playing. While clearly not the most sterile-sounding production job, VGS' sixth album back when it initially came out should have benefited more from a crisp presentation.
Even if this self-produced record suffers from an uneven tone and songwriting that leaves much to be desired, Voodoo Glow Skulls'
Steady As She Goes is a damn fine third-wave ska album that comes equipped with the entertainment factor and delicious musicianship the lot of you would anticipate from this style of music. It isn't perfect by any means necessary nor is it the strongest release in the California-oriented band's catalog, but this warrants a good time for sure.
Angelboros' picks:
- High Society
- Ethnic Cleansing Day
- La Llorona
- New Jerk Swing
