Here go two completely unrelated album reviews from a different decade. While Mike Brooks should be enshrined in some reggae music hall of fame, the Slackers’ Peculiar might actually represent a low point for the New Yawk, NewYawk band.

Mike Brooks
The Earth is the Fullness
(Moll Selekta, 2004)

Jamaican music is a very mysterious thing. The give and take between American and Jamaican culture has gone under-appreciated for quite some time now. Originally, at the time of the island’s independence, ska was born from a stew of Motown and jazz. Since that time the evolution of that music has really changed the face of the world. Firstly, regardless of what any scholar says, rap comes from Jamaica. Nowhere on earth was anyone chanting overtop of a record before the deejays from the Jamdown. And perhaps even more importantly, the island gave fame to Bob Marley, who you should consider the most famous musician in the world (Elvis who?). While Marley is the most easily recognizable, a producer that he worked with, Lee Perry, produced innumerable tracks from his Black Ark studio. Some of the earliest efforts appear here. Mike Brooks, falsetto and all, runs through twelve tracks of Jah praising material. While the lyrics are bound to seem repetitive, at least they have some purpose. One standout, “Money,” boasts the line, “Money buy material things/But good friend is better than pocket money.” True. Amusing and scientifically inaccurate “Good Herb” borrows from Peter Tosh in an ode to the collie weed. But regardless of the lyrical shortcomings, each track on this slab serves up solid rhythms courtesy of Harry J, Lee Perry, Prince Far I and a few others. Foundling label Moll-Selekta gives the world another worthwhile slab of roots. So far, they each of the imprint’s releases are gold.

The Slackers
Peculiar
(Hellcat Records, 2006)

The Slackers have the distinction of being one of the few ska bands touring today that have been doing so for more than a decade. The company they keep includes founders of third wave ska, The Toasters and its Boston counterparts The Pietasters. On Peculiar the Slackers includes a number of disparate influences that have been apparent for years, but become more overt on this release. Unfortunately, the most satisfying of these 13 tracks already appeared on an EP released in 2005. “Rider” is almost not a ska offering, but a reggae track - a genre the band has been embracing more and more of late. Perhaps the most noteworthy of anything from this new slab of ska is The Slackers’ version of “I Shall Be Released,” which the group’s been performing live for a number of years. In no way is this an awful release, but by the same token Peculiar does not match the band’s strongest work. Recently though, on the Special Potato imprint, the band issued An Afternoon in Dub, which most likely won’t please ska-only listeners, but is easily the stronger and more entertaining of the two recordings. The Slackers aren’t done. Just squirming and experimenting.