Do the dog!!! (The Specials)

Member Name: strange_child

Product:	The Specials
Date:	20/05/02 (157 review reads)
Rating:

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I had never heard of The Specials until I heard that former musicians from The Specials and The Selector would be performing at our local rock club. I vaguely new that they were an old ska band, and when I told my dad, he got really excited and the next time we went to my grandparent's house we took full advantage of the record player, recording both The Specials album and The Selector album. I have been really getting into the ska punk scene, with rising British bands such as Jesse James, Lightyear, Fiveknuckle, along with better known American pop ska punk bands like Less Than Jake. I was surprised to find that there was little similarity between The Specials and these bands, but never the less, they have gradually become a favourite! Unfortunately, they never turned up at the gig, so I don't know what they would've been like live.

They have a strangely timeless feel; I think that they were around in the early 80s, but some of the music, with the light style and the lyrics sounds like it could have been done earlier. The lyrics are brilliant; I'm not normally one to bang on about lyrics, because they're not the most important part to music for me, but they never give in to clichés like so many bands do, and they're not at all wishy washy, and very entertaining! There are two singers, one which sings in a punky, slightly dim and sometimes shouty way, and another who sings in a traditional reggae voice, which a Jamaican accent (real or put on, I don't know!)

A Message To You Rudy
The first song on the album starts off with a quaint harmonica playing a tune, which is then joined by trumpets, and then accompanied by the laid-back back beat. When I first heard it, I didn't know where I had heard the tune before, and then I realised - the trumpets feature in some advert! This is a relatively laid back song, sounding more like just reggae rather than ska, it's about someone called Rudy who's just messing about
doing nothing, and it's like a warning.
4/5

Do The Dog
In comparison with the last, this is much more upbeat and slightly punky. It has a faster, but still reggae, beat and it sounds like fairground music! This time it's the punk singer, interrupted by the reggae singer saying 'do the dog!', and it's really good! It just brings up images of ska punks dancing around in their suits! It's about everyone joining together, no matter who they are.
5/5

Gangsters
This isn't included on the record version, and I only heard it when I bought the CD. It starts off with a catchy tune, I'm not sure what instrument it must be, it could be a keyboard, but it's not cheesy, and there are exotic sounding bits. The punk singer starts actually singing rather than shouting. The quiet volume of the vocals accentuates the retro style, they all sound quite old fashioned, but this one more than most.
4/5

It?s Up To You
This song is about how you don't have to listen to The Specials if you don't want to. It starts off with fast strumming of some electric guitar which then gives way to a slightly slower back beat and 'ooooh's, which last all the way through the song. Then with a small beat of the drum, the punk singer starts yet again! I don't think this song is that catchy, but I still sing along to it!
4/5

Nite Klub
This is defiantly one of the best; it's just so relevant! It's about ending up in a club with really bad music, and ugly people - it just reminds me of the day when I got drunk and found myself in a cheesy Bedford nightclub playing Kylie Minogue! Nooo! It starts off with an audience sound - it's live, and then the reggae singer introduces it, and the punk singer starts as well. The background music is like the normal fairground/ska music and the chorus is just brilliant! It's so catchy, and just screams 'skank along to me!!'. This so
ng has some of the best lyrics on the album; 'Niiiite kluuuub! I won't dance in a club like this, all the girls are sl@gs, and the beer tastes just like p1ss!'
6/5

Doesn't Make It Alright
This is a bit of an anticlimax after the last song, it's laid back, but there isn't a very interesting tune, and the vocals are quite lack-lustre. It has all the usual features of a Specials song but defiantly not one of my favourites!
4/5

Concrete Jungle
This is another of my favourites, it starts off with a crowd chanting and clapping which the drums and then the guitar later join. It's quite upbeat and the chorus - 'concreeete jungle!!' - is catchy and good to sing along to. There are sound affects of breaking glass and the guitars sound great as usual. I love the way the play the guitar, it doesn't sound like the usual ska-punk, but thinner and higher.
5/5

Too Hot
This one is quite different from the others that have come before. It's sung by the reggae singer, it's quite thinner sounding, without guitars this time, just the backbeat, a bit of light keyboarding and some background 'humming'! It's not just the singing voice that separates the two singers, but the reggae singer is more confident sounding and I think that it's closer to actual true reggae. However, both of them sing quite simply, with orthographic sentences etc.
4/5

Monkey Man
Yet again, another of my favourites! Like Nite Klub, it starts off with the sounds of an audience, shouting 'Rude boy!! Rude boy!!' and one of the singers dedicates it to the 'big big monkey man' bouncers, something that I can relate to at gigs! Both of the singers are in this song, doing fairly equal parts. It starts off with what sounds like 'ai ai ai, ai ai ai!!' in a catchy way, which you can't help but skank to! I suppose it must be about bouncers as they say, or else big scary m
uscly people!
6/5

(Dawning Of A) New Era
I could never understand the lyrics before I knew what it was called. This is another upbeat dynamic song, sung by the reggae man, and interjected at various intervals by the punk. Again, there is what can only be described as fairground sounds, and a really quick, slightly different sounding rhythm. Another song that'll wear you out from skanking to much, I'm sorry, I can't help it!
6/5

Blank Expression
The start sounds like a Christmas song, with its bells and the mentions of snow. It's sung quite monotonously though, which I suppose is because it's about a bloke who goes into a bar and sees his girlfriend who looks back at him as though he's a stranger. It's not the best on the album, but a good try!
4/5

Stupid Marriage
This is quite interesting, because it's set up as a court hearing, with Judge Ruffneck trying the punk. Then the punk has to explain why he got drunk and smashed up his ex-girlfriend's window; 'naked woman, naked man, where did you get that nice suntan?' I think it links into the next song, which is about his ex-girlfriend who got pregnant and married someone else. There's a great climax at the end with the chorus repeated quicker each time until you can hardly understand it, and the judge shouts 'tek 'im away!'
4/5

Too Much Too Young
I gave a little explanation of this in the last song. I heard somewhere that it's actually a true story, and that's why I reckon Stupid Marriage is a true story too. It's got a catchy, if repetitive structure; 'you've done too much, much too young, now you're chained to the cooker making currant buns for tea.' It's a good song, but does get boring after a while because there's not that much change, but great lyrics.
4/5

Little Bitch
This is another brilliant song, from the beginning with a climb
ing guitar riff, and a really fast ska beat. It's fast and I absolutely love the chorus riff! It's a moan against someone they don't like; 'I know you, you're just a little BITCH!' I don't know how to describe this song, but it's really really good!
6/5

You?re Wondering Now
And here we come to the last song, which starts with the usual Specials style of a quiet beat played with drums and guitar. The voice sounds different, and the song's about, well, what are you going to do now that the records finished! I usually press repeat. It's good, but a lot less dynamic than the other songs, but that's good, because it means you're less disappointed when it finishes!
4/5

I would recommend this album to absolutely everybody, for people into harder stuff, it's like an alternative. For others who are into chart music, well it's something different. I can't see how anyone would not like this album!

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