Reviewed on Feb 21, 2008 by Tom

You have got to hand it to the The Casillas brothers, they just don’t know the meaning of the word quit, as 2008 will mark the 20th birthday of the band. Which is quite a milestone to say the least.

I’ve kind of lost touch with the band (seemingly the only remaining godfathers of skacore) ever since they released the abysmally bad “Steady As She Goes” back in 2002, and “Adiccion, Tradicion, Revolucion” didn’t inspire me to give it more than just the casual spin either, but ”Southern California Street Music”, the band’s 8th full-length to date, was able to rouse my appetite for skacore once again. At least somewhat. Nothing really much has changed to the recipe, the Californian bunch still dishing out their unique brand of their hectic, raucous and unfiltered ska-core like there’s no tomorrow. Of course, by now they’ve used up every trick in their arsenal at least twice over, but still “California Street Music” offers a pretty decent listen.

Tracks like “Morning Air Raid Sirens”, “While My City Sleeps” and “Dancing On Your Grave” show that the VGS are heading in the right direction again to appease the fans of old, as these tracks burn with a psychotic fury comparable to “Who Is This Is”, and I can appreciate some of their slower tracks like “World Stops Turning” and “The Ballad Of Froggy McNasty” as well, which could be due to me getting a day older as much as the VGS just getting better at it.

Despite all of its good moments though, “Southern California Street Music” still sounds too much like a band going through the motions, and it is painfully obvious the band cannot deliver tracks with the same level of energy and brassy goodness as with their earlier masterpieces. Time may have given more traditional influences the opportunity to creep into the Skulls’ repertoire, and allowed for the band to find a more socially conscious backbone to its lyrical approach, but unfortunately it doesn’t translate just quite well enough to a fan of old like me to get me all psyched up like other releases do. It’s clear that “Southern California Street Music” is one for fans of the genre or people new to the whole skacore thing but I’d still recommend you check out their earlier work …

Related Links:

• www.voodooglowskulls.com

1. Exorcism
2. Fire in the Dancehall
3. The Ballad Of Froggy McNasty
4. The Morning Air Raid Sirens
5. Discombobulated
6. Home is Where The Heart(ache) Is
7. While My City Sleeps
8. Dancing On Your Grave
9. When The World Stops Turning
10. Southern California Street Music
11. Death Wish List
12. Say Hello To My Little Friend

Album Reviews

	Southern California Street Music Sep 18, 2007
	Tradicion, Addiction y Revolucion Nov 2, 2004

Interviews

Nov 9, 2002 La Laiterie, France