Catch 22 - Keasbey Nights

Artist: Catch 22
Album: Keasbey Nights
Year: 1998
Rating: 84/100

The words "ska-punk" when they're combined can sometimes evoke some serious musical horror stories to the ears, often incorporating the very worst of both worlds. Not so for Catch 22. The New Jersey sextet do the exact reverse here on their debut effort, "Keasbey Nights", incorporating the massive choruses and snotty attitude of punk rock with the fun and exuberance that ska is largely known for.

The most striking thing about "Keasbey Nights" is how precise musically Catch 22 as a collective unit are. There's no guitar chord out of place, no misplaced bass groove, no awry drum fills. The brass section make a valuable contribution to every song without grating on the listener's ears, best heard on the title track, and efforts such as "Walking Away" and opener "Dear Sergio". Elsewhere, "Day In, Day Out" boasts an unexpected yet brilliant reggae pick up, "On & On & On" has a superb middle eight with fingerpicked guitar, brass and minimal drums that sounds like a ska-punk nod to Pachebel's Canon, while "Walking Away" boasts a brilliant jazz bass and hi-hat intro and a scintillatingly superb trumpet/trombone duel!

Unfortunately, while "Keasbey Nights" rightly got the critical acclaim it deserved from fans and critics alike, frontman and guitarist Tomas Kalnoky quit the band after the grind of touring became too much. Eventually he would surface in the more chilled out (but equally as good) ska sextet Streetlight Manifesto, and re-record "Keasbey Nights" in its entirety with them, and as a result nothing else Catch 22 would go on to record would be even half as good as this. As a stand alone album, however, "Keasbey Nights" is a must listen for ska and punk fans alike. It's not quite in the Operation Ivy/early Rancid class, but damn if it's not very close indeed!

Track list

1. Dear Sergio
2. Sick and Sad
3. Keasbey Nights
4. Day In, Day Out
5. Walking Away
6. Giving Up Giving In
7. On & On & On
8. Riding the Fourth Wave
9. This One Goes Out To...
10. Supernothing
11. 9mm and a Three Piece Suit
12. Kristina She Don't Know I Exist
13. As The Footsteps Die Out Forever