Last Man Skanking
Coming at you from Mystic, Connecticut, Bubba’s Fat Friend is here to show you a good time. Their brand of ska-punk is more likely to fuel a mosh pit than get a bunch of people skanking, but I won’t hold that against them. After all when was the last time that you didn’t see people moshing at a ska show? Anyway, back to the review. Like I said before, these guys know how to have a good time, and with song lyrics that are all about slushies, penises in jars, trying to give yourself head, and dead pets, how could you not have a good time? These guys obviously know what’s going on in that department and show it with the creative lyrics in their songs, I mean honestly, where else can you hear about all of that stuff on one CD. The answer is nowhere, my friend, nowhere. If that wasn’t enough they venture to the other side of the lyrical spectrum and sing about the most reliable source of inspiration in the music business – women. Yeah that’s right, women, but like every other subject on the CD they approach it in their own special way. The word affection doesn’t always apply here. But does it need to? I think it’s great that these guys are more likely to tell a girl that just dumped them to piss off than fawn over her. And frankly that’s a much welcome change from all of that emo crap that is coming out now. (Don’t get me started on emo.)
Musically, these guys aren’t bad. I think their weakest link is their vocalist who often seems to just scream out all of the lyrics. Fortunately, the band tells me, they’ve got a new lead vocalist. Check out “Rude Girl” for a sample of his work, and before you ask, no he isn’t the 6th Backstreet Boy. The rest of the guys do good job, and there are flashes of brilliance from a horn section. Check out “Lonely” for a sample of the horn section’s work as well as some skankable guitar beats.
These guys do their thing and that’s pretty respectable in this day and age especially considering the state of the CT ska scene. So if you’re in to ska-punk a la Catch-22 give Bubba’s Fat Friend a listen. Rating: 7