Schoolboy Error are a young Ska Punk band from the UK who are all under the age of 18. They play energetic Ska music which I can imagine many skanking along to at their gigs. Ska has been a long time coming for the site but now that it has finally come again I have not been disappointed – and hopefully the trend will continue when the new Sonic Boom Six CD is received.
There are 6 tracks song on this CD, showing the band off to be a fine young energetic skanksome 7 piece who can easily put a smile on your face with their crazy beats. There is never a dull moment on this six track CD and it really reminded me why I got into this genre of music – it is funky, fresh, and full to the brim with excitement. You can tell that this band are having fun making the music that they do and at the end of the day that’s what it is all about because if you’re not having fun playing the music then how can you expect others to have fun when listening to it. The band have a great horn section, which is always a good starting point when you form a Ska band – the horn section put out some great music and gives the music that Less Than Jake pre Borders and Boundaries essence which always goes down a treat. There are also some amazing bass lines in the music that will go straight inside your body and fill it with funky freshness. The guitar riffs are really spot on – the guitarist for this band has obviously spent a long time perfecting his Ska playing as it really goes with the Ska feel of the music and works amazingly well, the same goes for the drumming – with the drummer offering up some great drum beats which always match the tempo of the music. As for the vocals, they are absolutely cracking and work really well for that fun factor Ska Punk tone.
Although all of these tracks are amazingly good, there were a few that really stood out for me. Track 4, ‘Together someday’ really reminded me of early Solabeat Alliance (Spankboy then.) It is not only the horn section that sounded so similar but it is also the vocals and we all know that since then the band have gone on to greater things so who knows what is in store for this band – if they carry on treading this path then there is no reason why they shouldn’t end up with something really special as a finishing result. The other track which stood out for me was of course opening track ‘Embarrassing Situations.’ This song has a really Summery Less Than Jake style feel to it and sounds awesome for it – combining heavy riffage with cool horns, and Ska to the max vocals. This is a humorous track and works well as an opener to the CD as it shows that the band are not taking themselves too seriously and have a nice jokey side to their nature.
If you are a fan of such bands as Solabeat Alliance, Less Than Jake, or even Howards Alias then the chances are that you will enjoy what this band do as it is a combination of the lot and of course they have their added flavour that makes them who they are – Schoolboy Error, and by the sounds of things damn proud of it.
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.