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It's not often you buy a cheap EP and find it's actually quite good, but after seeing both the bands that contributed to this one at Tunbridge Wells Forum I thought I'd risk the purchase, and I'm forever glad I did. For those who haven't heard of MDS or Ye Wiles, MDS are a dual female-fronted ska band from somewhere near West London (who have now sadly split up) and Ye Wiles are (in the words of Blam) "renaissance fops about town" from the Tunbridge Wells area, recently signed to Household Name. This CD was recorded, as the title suggests, in someone's sitting room in Brighton, with the drum tracks being done in a walk in freezer at Immediate Clothing in Sydney Street (check it out it rocks). Luckily it's come out sounding as good as a proper studio recording, and you can really appreciate the recorded sound of both bands.
Ye Wiles kick things off with "Microwave Meals: An Ideal?" - and yes, that is what the song is about. These guys write songs about the wierdest things, and their sound isn't exactly run of the mill ska, with an electric fiddle and some strange beats. Imagine Citizen Fish playing Levellers songs and you've pretty much got it. Despite the fact that it's wierd, it's still great and very skankable (is that a word?). This is followed by the best song on the EP, "Something Happened", by MDS. It starts off with a bit of keyboard, then wham into some great heavy guitar to throw yourself around to. The song winds down into a mellow ska number towards the end, with some great vocals from Hannah and Stef, quickly shooting back into the heavy distorted guitars and keyboard for those of you who haven't slam-danced enough.
The next song, "Shuffle No.2" is a variation on an older Ye Wiles song which Forum-goers might recognise. Ed's fiddle cuts through Shlauff's vocals about going to a wedding and looking at all the people there (trust me it's great!). Muttley's follow this with "Sleepwalking", which features a nice bit of organ and wah-wah, although it's a little slow too move to. Ye Wiles last song is "15 Years...", which is a lot heavier than their other two songs on the EP, but still has the ska guitar and some well-placed harmonics (which I think are done on the fiddle - the man's a nutter). To finish off the EP both bands got together and recorded "Flick Knife", I think most of the instruments are done by MDS but the shouting and cheering at the end was both bands. The song is an unusual mix of ska and salsa (or some other South American kinda stuff), it gets the crowd going well at a live gig.
So now I've raved enough about the EP, I'm beginning to realise it might be hard to get hold of. But that's a good excuse for you to go and see either one of the bands (although MDS are playing their last few gigs, I'm sure Ye Wiles will be getting around a bit on Household Name tours), I know they'll be selling the EP at gigs. Or even better you could get in touch with The Punker Bunker in Brighton, who stock Killer Ska CDs.
The Punker Bunker, 34 Sydney Street, North Laines, Brighton
Jamie
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