Brighton ska'n'soul legends The Meow Meows third album Go Boom! has an awful lot going for it: the songs are great and immaculately produced, with everything sitting in the right place and in the right frequency, whilst simultaneously preserving the energy they are famous for as a live band. It's their second time using Pledge Music to produce an album, three years ago they successfully funded the recording of Somehow We Met, spending a week in the studio of reggae legend Prince Fatty. This helped them step things up a gear, playing bigger festivals and shows further afield than before, with a growing following outside of England to post their records to.

For Go Boom! The Meow Meows recorded just outside of Brighton with King Glover at 811 Studios, in Cowfold. In our recent interview with keyboard player Alex he described Glover as a “disciplinarian with a wicked sense of humour” – apparently ideal for the band and something you can sense in the music, which is relentlessly tight and carefully orchestrated, whilst also buoyant and playful. Glover has worked with some greats from the world of ska and reggae, like The Skatalites, Easy Star All-Stars and Bad Manners, and he also produced Los Albertos' This Is A Serious Party, which we recently released on the Brightonsfinest label.

The album kicks off with the strong horn hooks of 'Kayley May' – it’s upbeat and storms along despite the darkness of the lyrics. Kayley May, we assume (as it's not spelled out), is a disabled person whose ability to integrate into society is challenged as the support she has previously received from the state, through social workers and therapists, is no longer paid for. It's quite a bleak and depressing potential outcome from the cutbacks imposed by recent times of austerity, but, much like The Specials in their day, this doesn't stop the band from partying and throwing out hooks left, right and centre. The dual lead voices of Danny Noble and Hanna Mawby are one of the unique aspects of the Meow’s sound that set them apart. Danny's voice is slighter, more laid-back, with the hint of an accent which lends it a slightly sultry air to my ears; Hanna's is stronger, more direct and unmistakably British. Both voices work very well together as they swap lines or join together and harmonise. They recall the new-wave spirit of singers who don't dress up their vocals with over-the-top drama, they sing as themselves, which is very effective and suits the honest lyrical content to a tee.

'Pretty If You Smile' opens with a bit of a 70s garage rock riff, before those dense horns come in again, a signature of the band’s sound. It's another upbeat number and this time there's an aggression driving it, annoyance at sexist men who heckle women in the street. There's a little respite from the drive, with a killer sax solo over a half-time section, before things kick back to full-tempo for the end. 'Get Off My Bench' is more guitar-driven, with bouncy keyboards playing the off-beats, providing tension. Lyrically it's a little more poetic, a little harder to interpret, but there's a sadness to the song which suggests it may be about a lost loved one.

'Young Blood' has been released ahead of the album with an animated music video as an early single and again takes aim at austerity Britain, “Cut, cut, cut when their ain't much left/Blame it on the peasants by convincing them it's theft”. This one has a mid-tempo stomp to it, it's almost a marching number, aimed at convincing the younger generation to keep focus on what's happening politically and resist. 'Off Again' has more of a Motown feel to it, with some lovely fluttery horn lines. 'IOU' continues with the upbeat soul feel, with driving bass and drums and some great soft organs in the backdrop of the verses, which make it come across like something The Band might have done at points.

'Put You Down' steps things up a gear, with a more obvious ska groove and insistent horn line, there's that lovely sense of mystery to the verses but then a real sing-a-long chorus that wouldn't sound out of place on a big Britpop number. 'Swipe Right' tells a great contemporary love story, about people who've met on a modern dating app like Tinder, opening with a suitably boozy-sounding horn line. This time we get a bit of a happy ending, as the swiper moves from simply using someone for their body, to actually falling for them. Driven by a tension-filled bouncy organ it's a great track. 'Walk Me Home' has a bit of The Specials 'Ghost Town' about it, slower and more dub-oriented, it has great dynamics and spooky, delay-soaked trumpet lines. There's a bit of a rap in this one too, although it's uncredited so I wouldn't want to guess who is behind it. 'We Fade Away' rolls nicely out of 'Walk Me Home', with a super mellow instrumental passage for the trumpet and piano that makes it sound like it's going to be an end-of-the record lull, before the full band kicks in with another infectious horn line. The lyrics are chock-full of David Bowie references, so this is clearly a tribute and homage. However, it’s the bitter-sweet kind that simultaneously celebrates the gifts the great man bestowed upon us, whilst also being seeped in the nostalgia and loss many of us experienced when a star who had soundtracked so much of our lives left us. As the band were recording in March and April this year this one must have been written very close to the sessions, but it's easily one of the strongest numbers on the album.

The album continues with the instrumental 'Jack Monroe', which is another flawlessly arranged and performed slice of easy-going ska, before closing with 'Friends On Benefits', a single released last year and produced by Prince Fatty. There are clear, if somewhat subtle, differences between Prince Fatty and King Glover's production – the horns, for example, seem a little more reverberated and in the distance on Fatty's track. I can see why they would stick this track on the end here, to separate it from the main body of the album because of the slight difference in vibe. I have to say though, to my ears, track nine and ten feel like the album closers, with the instrumental and single that come at the end not flowing as well. I would probably have stuck 'Jack Munroe' slap bang in the middle of the playlist and 'Friends On Benefits' in the first half, but these are slight criticisms for an otherwise excellent and consistent album.

Although it has been in the hands of those who helped back the Pledge Campaign for a month or so now, and others may have been able to pick up a copy through the band’s merch stand at a live show, the album gets its official release this Friday on the prestigious Jump Up Records. The home of “Jamaican music made the old fashioned way”, it is an exciting place for these Brighton ska-devotees to find themselves. Here's hoping it helps them ascend that little bit further and brings them the accolades and inspiration they need to keep producing such marvellous music.
Adam Kidd

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