REVIEWS
 Mad Caddies | Keep it Going
Released 5.07
Fat Wreck Chords
Reviewed by Thomas Nobles |
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The Mad Caddies, Santa Barbara, California’s ska kings of polka, have returned once again with yet another batch of their patented blend of musical alchemy. Back once more are the standard sounds of punk, ska, reggae, Dixieland, and infectious polka which fans worldwide have come to expect from the Mad Caddies. Keep it Going does seem to add a few noticeable additions to the band’s already impressive musical repertoire including some country leanings (towards the end of the album), and on some tracks what sound like some Spanish influences. An Eastern European vibe also shines through occasionally, especially on tracks like “Coyote,” and “Reflections.” So far my favorite tracks on Keep it Going are “Lay Your Head Down,” “Tired Bones,” and “Pyramid Scheme.” “Lay Your Head Down,” with its seemingly downtrodden lyrics about “streets that flow with pain,” sounds to me like the band is reflecting upon the masses of people everywhere that stumble aimlessly through their nine to five, only to find solace in the neon lights of their favorite bar. “Tired Bones” kicks up a Dixie-jazz frenzy, much like that of the banjo driven Mad Caddies classic “Monkeys,” only with slightly more lyrical maturity. “Backyard” is another great track, with a catchy chorus about growing “the cure for your disease” in one’s own backyard, which I’m sure would be a dream come true for stoners everywhere.
Keep it Going marks the sixth Mad Caddies release through Fat Wreck Chords, and the band’s first proper album since Just One More (2003). I recently saw the Mad Caddies on tour with Pepper, my favorite band from Hawaii, and I was very impressed at how well these new songs flowed with the band’s older material. Also, despite having only been out for a relatively short amount of time, many of the Caddies’ fans were already able to sing along with the new songs from Keep it Going. These ska veterans, having been making great music since the late nineties, obviously know what they are doing whenever they enter the studio. It seems like every new Mad Caddies album is better than the one before it. I am pretty sure that Keep it Going is also the first album in quite some time to start, and end, with a dirge. If that’s not reason enough to buy this album, then I don’t know what is.
Mad Caddies website
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