Skindred - Kill The Power (DoubleCross Records/Cooking Vinyl)
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| Skindred - Kill The Power |
Release Date: 27th January 2014
Skindred are one of those bands
I've seen advertised on countless neon pink and yellow posters around large
towns and cities but, to the best of my knowledge, I've not heard a note of
their music yet so I was keen to get my ears around this new album and see
what's kept this band going for so long. The Welsh quartet launch in to their
fifth album with the title track and 'Kill The Power' is a fierce, swirling,
snarling mash up of rock, metal, ragga and dance beats. Following hot on its heels
is the furiousness that is 'Ruling Force' which takes on about six genres in
less than four genres like some kind of crazed, music hungry animal. 'Playing
With The Devil' is full of moody, almost Massive Attack-esque melody, pulsing
bass line and Benji Webbe's hypnotic vocals spiralling through the airwaves. Meanwhile,
on 'World's On Fire' Skindred astutely deploy broken beats, live drums and some
huge riffs before 'Ninja' comes crashing through the window and the duelling
guitar and bass of Mikey Demus and Dan Pugsley take centre stage.
There is a more straight forward
rock'n'roll feel to 'The Kids Are Right Now' which reminds me of the l likes of
Audioslave but the lyrics about kids born in Jamaica and Brixton give this a
very different cultural focal point. Demus' chiming and choppy guitar work
again comes to the fore on 'We Live' although this feels a bit too much like a
Nu-metal ballad which is murky territory. The jerk and sway of 'Open Eyed' is
akin to Skunk Anansie being remixed by Asian Dub Foundation while 'Dollars and
Dimes' is a no-holds-barred indie-rock anthem in the making. 'Saturday' is a
BIG riffed tune and you could reasonably expect to hear it in the background of
a frat party scene in some big American teen movie - entirely missing the point
of the lyrics, ironically. System Of A Down-esque riffs and beats open 'Proceed
With Caution' before Webbe starts spitting out lyrics at a terrifying pace -
his wordcount per song must surely be well above the average. Final track,
'More Fire', starts off like a gentle, children's them song for a cartoon about
a misunderstood dragon with tourettes and, despite almost sounding a bit like
Big Mountain at times, is actually a really nice, laid back tune that would go
down well at sunset at any festival of your choosing. So, I can see why
Skindred's popularity has lasted as they manage to encompass so many different
styles at once whilst retaining excellent musicianship, interesting song
structures and, most importantly, they've got a message. Predictably, there's
another sizeable tour coming up, starting this week in fact, so if you've seen
the name but don't know their music then just give Skindred a chance to
impress.
More information: www.facebook.com/skindredofficial
Live Dates:
22nd January - University of East Anglia, Norwich
23rd January - Mo Club, Southampton
24th January - Rock City, Nottingham
25th January - Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
26th January - Empire, Middlesborough
27th January - O2, Glasgow
29th January - Leadmill, Sheffield
30th January - O2 Academy, Bristol
31st January - The Junction, Cambridge
1st February - The Forum, London
2nd February - Academy, Manchester