Richard Proplesch

Rating: Four Stars

Now that ska's third wave finds itself on the descending slope of notoriety, it's become standard critical practice (this year) to speculate on the various sonic adjustments created by many 2K-tone bands. Although there remains a few bitter-enders (like SoCal’s Hepcat) that find historical altruism in the island's purity, a few performers have been stretching into new musical realms. Tempering ska's skipped beats with swing, jazz or boisterous frat rock (ala Rocket From The Crypt), those hallowed horns look to reinforce their repertoire.

Even some of the genre's staunchest defenders, such as New Jersey's Catch 22, have found themselves adopting novelty twists (like the hardcore take of The Beach Boys'"Sloop John B."), launching buoyant jazz-rock jams (like the swingin' bop freestyle that begins "It Takes Some Time") or wriggling through hyper-fractured horn charts ("Hard To Impress"), to gratify their skacore clientele.

While gently tip-toeing over musical boundaries, Catch 22's latest album (somewhat ironic, given its introspective title) proves to be their most outward, commercially oriented extravaganza. Under an extensive personnel overhaul, former-bassist-now-guitarist Pat Calpin's meat-cleavered chording guides a good two-thirds of "Crowd"'s power punk contents. While the taut horn frontline of saxist Ryan Eldred, trumpeter Kevin Gunther, and trombonist Mike Soprano punctuates the party atmosphere, the unlikely combination of quirky melodies, bottled rage and bluebeat history bode well for the band's new directions.