The Selecter – The Happy Album
welcome back to the Skaject folks! we’re taking a look at The Selecter’s 3rd release this week, it’s The Happy Album, from 1994.
The Selector broke up after the commercial failure of Celebrate the Bullet, their second record, and the band went over a decade before a successful reunion tour brought them back to the recording studio. The Happy Album was the result of that session, with a few lineup changes after the break and reunion tour ended.
i think it’s pretty clear from the opener, Reselecterization, that they’re establishing that they haven’t spent that break without studying the changing music landscape. the band talked a bit about it keeping a ska core (sometimes its just ska to the bone, as tracks Sweet and Dandy and I Want Justice are reggae covers from Toots Hibbert and Delroy Wilson, respectively), but Reselecterization pushes into a more hip hop space, both from a production and structural standpoint. Neurotica also plays in some weird spaces, and while i don’t love Ladders, the closer, i think it’s a neat way to bring things to a close given how they opened.
i think the covers are solid but not outstanding – the thing i really appreciate is that they’re maintaining their lyrical focus here. immediately after Reselecterization, Whip Them Down is a much more straightforwardly ska song about protest, opposing racism and nationalism, and the effects of living under a hostile system, California Screaming is about the assault of Rodney King, and Copacetic is an anti-war song.
this record was a neat way to break back onto the scene – Celebrate the Bullet had moments i really enjoyed but they didn’t land some of their experiments, and i think The Happy Album more successfully marries their influences with their style while not giving up anything lyrically.
faves – Whip Them Down, California Screaming
dislikes –
The Happy Album – 6/10
next week’s record will be Question the Answers, from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones!
previous: Dub 56 | next: Question the Answers
previous The Selecter release: Celebrate the Bullet | next: Pucker!
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