Local outfit Cracked Actors have already acquired a large and faithful following for their madcap mayhem Skunkrock live performances. With a big rumbustuous anarchic sound and advocacy of naturopathic medicine this CD is sure not to disappoint their fans. Well it didn't disappoint yours truly at any rate, possibly because they remind me of a lot of bands that I was big on a long time ago. 'Only Growing Flowers' has a great horn sound that is very reminiscent of UB40, back when they still had (a lot) of credibility as a political band. Tracks like 'Red Rag' and Mustapha Toke' feature the sort of giddy-up feel good guitar riffs that were central to the sound of bands like Madness and Bad Manners at their best, while 'Naked When I Dance' puts me in mind of The Clash' 'Rock the Casbah'. I must admit I thought 'Elenor Rigby was an unusual choice of material, but fair play the Actors have stamped their own distinct sound on it and more than justified the choice.
Musicianship throughout is exemplary, and the whole album is very well put together and engineered. If what you like is music with bags of energy written and performed by independent minded people, or if like me you're just very old and still get off on punk and ska, you're gonna love this.
