The Pietasters
Willis
Hellcat Records, 2798 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90026
Release Date: October 7, 1997
If
No Doubt does nothing else for music (and let's not think too hard about that, shall we?), at the very least, they've given an entire genre a new lease on life. Eyes and ears are turning towards ska bands that have been plugging away in obscurity for years (needless to say, some fans are none too thrilled about this development, but can we not get into this Nirvana-Green Day discussion again? Please?). Whether they cultivate or kill that garden is up to the bands and the labels, but now they've got the hoe and more mulch than they know what to do with.
The Pietasters' Willis is a ringing call to horns for a charge on the masses. Fun but not mindless, accessible without being dumbed-down, the 'tasters bake up their chunky brand of skrock (that's like ska-rock, only shorter and more fun to say) and leave it on the windowsill where everyone can get a whiff.
Disbelievers accuse ska bands of one-note monotony, considering their range most severely limited. Willis takes aim at that hypothesis and blows it to smoke. "Without You" is a Caribbean cocktail under a sun umbrella, while opener "Crazy Monkey Woman" thunders with baR(&)Band intensity. Jumpin' indie-rocker "Crime" is followed by the Motown soul of "Quicksand." Regardless of its roots, though, each track is racked with the ceaseless energy that defines ska.
Produced by Epitaph maestro Brett Gurewitz, the album flies its ska, mod and down-and-dirty rock 'n' roll flags with equal pride. But their appeal is wholly homegrown; the Pietasters are the mischievous class clown, not the brown-nosing teacher's pet. No doubt about it, Willis is an attention-getter.
-- Lindy Powell
powell@outersound.com
