SOUND JUDGEMENT

THE LATEST ALBUM RELEASES RATED AND REVIEWED

BUSTED HALF WAY THERE

SOME things never change.

Nearly two decades on, the three-piece are still singing about the sixth form, other bands they like, and girls.

A more mature sound is discernible here, though it is ostensibly a homage to Jerry Finn-produced American pop-punk. And Charlie is still lamenting while strumming an acoustic guitar in the more sombre moments. Are they targeting new fans, or delivering more of the same for those who were thankfully there the first time around? The mantra is clearly “If it isn’t busted, don’t fix it”. A fun album.

THE SPECIALS

ENCORE

IT’S an auspicious year for a Specials comeback. Some 40 years since the band’s Jerry Dammers created the famous 2 Tone Records and released their debut single, Gangsters. And 10 years since the Coventry band re-formed. Truly, it was time for some new material.

Encore is a nimble concoction of disco, ska and reggae. Only three of the seven original members feature but Encore still feels like part of the legacy. Left-wing activist Saffiyah Khan intones over bone-shaking dub reggae on 10 Commandments, while opener Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys is drenched in lashings of disco cowbell. Encore’s not perfect, one or two tracks feel unfinished, but this is a small gripe.

IAN BROWN

RIPPLES

IAN Brown’s voice: a slice of permanence in a world of flux.

He couldn’t sing then and he can’t sing now. But it didn’t matter when The Stone Roses were at their peak in 1989 and it doesn’t make much of a difference today, either.

This is his seventh solo album and, despite a fixation with conspiracy theories, it’s not bad. On The Dream And The Dreamer he sings of “Fat cat puppeteers” orchestrating events from the shadows. On Blue Sky Day, Brown references jet planes making chemtrails, a sentiment that would appear more at home on Infowars, rather than on one of his records.

Despite the strange subject matter, Ripples is a solid, if not fantastic effort.