I don’t like pushy bands. I’m a busy guy with lots to do, so when a band emails me asking for a review on March 16 and then emails me on what seems like a weekly basis after that asking when their record is going to get reviewed, it kinda makes me not want to like them. The good news for Detached is that even though I approached this EP negatively, it’s good enough to still get a decent grade.
Now I don’t like ska music. Last time I reviewed a band that played a style of music I’m not keen on, I got criticised so I’m going to be as constructive and honest as I can. I liked ska music when I was 16. I’m now 30. For me, a few UK bands aside, there’s not been too much invention in the genre. The likes of Sonic Boom 6 and Adequate 7 did marvellous things to take the genre to new levels and push new boundaries, but I’ve seen so many bands over the years, mainly live, who simply copy Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish and it’s boring. Detached are a very competent bad. They’re tight, they don’t rely on upstrokes and brass to get things going – in other words they’re not your average, cliched ska band. I’d say they sound a little Voodoo Glow Skulls crossed with a little Rancid crossed with, maybe, some Streetlight Manifesto? What I like about this EP is that the vocals are catchy yet not too poppy, the drums keep the pace up pretty much throughout and the brass is used sparingly, so when it is used it’s perfect.
So if you’ve managed to convert someone who doesn’t like ska that much to actually quite enjoy an EP, you know you’re on to good things. If you enjoy homegrown ska bands then Detached are pretty essential listening – for the rest of us, just enjoy a good time, party band doing their thing.