Ska and reggae are music genres that can be hard to perfect. If you have what it takes, you’ve got it. If you don’t, give up. There’s no inbetween. Bands can never be just “ok”, it’s either good or bad and so if you’re in a ska or a reggae band, you better make sure you can play good music.
Addictive Philosophy’s debut album, thankfully, is good. Playing in the same vain as bands like Madness and The Specials, as well as more modern day bands like The Skints; Studio is a high energy album fit for anyone to put on their skanking shoes. Vocalist Gez Addictive should take pride in the fact he sounds like a young Joe Strummer, but that’s not his greatest atribute. Infact, his greatest atribute is the fact that Gez and the rest of the band aren’t afraid to say what they feel. Songs like All I Want might not be ground breaking, but it is in some ways thought provoking. It’s a simple concept of not wanting war and being free – something that 99.9% of people in the world can most likely relate to.
However, if that sounds to “John Lennon” for you, then maybe Stranglehold will be more to your fancy. With a slow tempo and droning vocals, the song describes “the system” having a stranglehold on society. It’s songs like this that are more relevant than ever in these times of our Tory established government. While not everyone would agree with Addictive Philosophy’s views, they’re certainly views to take in to account.
On the epic (and probably the highlight of the entire album) Supernatural Race Fiend, the lyric “This is our finest hour” is repeated plenty of times and it’s hard not to forget. Hopefully, this is not Additive Philosophy’s finest hour. And that’s not to say the album is poor, but Addictive Philosophy can now look to the future and give us more; having not peaked yet – the best is still yet to come.
For fans of: The Specials, The Skints.
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