Dance Hall Crashers – Lockjaw
welcome back to the Skaject folks! this week, we’re listening to Lockjaw, the first post-reunion record from Dance Hall Crashers!
Lockjaw is a weird record for me. very solid collection of poppier ska tracks – vocalists Elyse Rogers and Karina Denike are providing some really solid performances throughout, in the typical DHC blended style (and individually!), and theres some very catchy songs here (opener Shelley in particular has a way of wedging itself into your brain).
i at first walked away from the record a tad disappointed – i dont know what i was expecting, but something about this record felt a tad underhwhelming. as i relistened and dug back into the tracks, i had a harder time pinning that feeling down, and the highlights kept popping up on individual, closer analysis – Flyin’ has some really solid guitar work going on, and a strong melodic backbone, as mentioned above Shelley is an absolute earworm, i really enjoy Good For Nothin’s more stripped back, bass-driven instrumentals, and Buried Alive’s a really strong song all around. part of my initial feelings might be the record’s slowdown in quality in the middle – Too Late has some really solid moments, especially the pre-chorus, and i like Enough, but the tracks around them are less my speed. the record does bring it back around at the end, as So Sue Us is a funny little track, and We Owe is a really good closer.
on the whole, i gotta say im still mixed on the record as a complete package – some very strong component parts, but the record as a package still feels a bit short of what its early promise holds.
faves – Shelley, Flyin, Good For Nothin, Buried Alive
dislikes –
Lockjaw – 7/10
next week, we’re checking back in on Laurel Aitken with The Story So Far…
previous: Pucker! | next: The Story So Far…
previous Dance Hall Crashers release: Dance Hall acrashers and the Old Record | next: Honey I’m Homely
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