With a title like that how can it be anything but the skankiest of ska? This young lot have unleashed this five track EP on us and as the resident ‘guy who sometimes quite likes ska’ here at Punktastic the duty/honour fell to me to ruthlessly and brutally pick apart the dreams of CleanBreak. Or not. As with all demos the sound quality isn’t exactly stunning, and as a result there’s none of that chunky distorted sound that I think the band might have been aiming at. However, it adds a lo-fi element to the music that just reeks of ‘gig’. So what’s it like?
Well, the first track opens like Boston’s ‘More Than A Feeling’ for all you cheesy-ass MOR fans out there. It’s just a bit…weird for what I was expecting but those trusty horns come and save the day for ‘3 Fingers Down’ as the sound immediately switches to that summery ska sound that is so catchy and recognisable. As with pretty much all ska bands it’s quite predictable structure-wise but it does whack along at a fair old pace, and the momentum of the song is probably its best feature. The first time I heard it I had a bit of a dance round my room – surely that’s the best compliment? One gripe that does spread throughout the entire EP but is perhaps worst on this track – the whiny vocals sound far to American for someone who isn’t American. Example: “god” is not pronounced “gaaaaaaaahd”. Sorry, personal annoyance.
‘British Beef’ is a much heavier track that reminds me of Pennywise with brass (a Good Thing), starting as it does with a deceptive horn line that sounds almost elegiac. There is a conscious progression throughout the song as the chugging guitar riff compliments the horns very well, leaving a sound that is extremely reminiscent of Leek And The Bouncing Uptones (another Good Thing). The instrumental middle-eight serves well as a build up to a half-ska, half-punk rock final section that acts as a catharsis for the song as a whole. Impressive stuff to be sure. ‘Contradiction’ is heavily ska-based in tone, replete with those “whoa-oh” bits that everyone loves, even though they do sound a bit forced, as if whoever’s doing them isn’t sure whether or not it’s a good idea. I reckon that punk rock, ska or whatever sounds better if you put your all into it instead of holding something back and being all self-conscious. So just go for it and shout or scream or do those strange yelps – it sounds good, but it could be better.
‘Women Are Attracted To Me’ is a shy, demure track that is obviously highly personal and romantic. Hell no. It’s a really fast-paced punk rock song that is spoiled only slightly by the over-accentuating of the Americanisms in the lyrics. It’s got a clincher though, the section just after the chorus which is very Catch 22: all off-beat ska that is just damn good. It’s very traditional ska punk, and it’s on this track that the backing vocals sound the best because they are shouted with a lot more confidence. And to be honest, the final track ‘There’s No Going Back’ is very like the others (in a good way). Even though, as I’ve said, there isn’t a great deal of musical variation, it never sounds as if the band are just cobbling together a few ideas that they’ve ripped off (this may howver be the case: I’m unsure). It’s more like they’re happy with what they do and they do it well, without a hint of pretension or ego.
As I said in the introduction CleanBreak are hardly the most original band around, and on this EP most of their songs do sound quite similar. To be honest it depends what you’re into. If you’re not a ska fan chances are you’re not even reading this so who cares? If someone who thinks ska is the music of the devil’s scrotum then they’d probably give this no stars and hunt down the perpetrators and kill them – but for all my sins I like the stuff. If you do too, then you’ll like CleanBreak, because their music is energetic and genuinely makes you want to get the fuck up and have a bit of a dance. That’s what ska’s all about; having a good time and sweating lots. And CleanBreak do it well. A bit more imagination, variation and freedom (and self confidence I suspect) and they’ll go onto bigger and better things.
Ben