Tracklist:
01. Geezer Style
02. Gutted
03. Belief
04. Estates
05. Whats Left To Push
06. Battle With The Beast
07. How D'Ya Like Me Now?
08. Tongue In Cheek
09. The Ace Face
10. Ecstacy Next To Me
11. Gutted 2
12. All MCs
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SK, since he first started
making noise has had courted controversy ad indeed it has followed him.
His claim to fame is that he was the original Streets and Mike Skinner
did him over. Regardless there is no love lost between the two and SK
aka Sean Kelly is setting about setting the record straight. SK along
with his producer David Soden aka Nedos have worked to produce a full LP
which follows on from the earlier Geezer Style release on Tumbledown
Records. This is a twelve track affair in which SK raps about the ups and
downs of everyday life for a geezer living in the second city.
At 24 years old SK has experienced the futility of struggling to get by
under Blair and he deftly conjures images that clearly identify him with
a lost generation, his lyrics are about deprived council estates and
warrant the title given to the LP. The LP kicks off with a big burp and
then it is into Geezer Style - the track that denotes what SK is
all about. This seems to have received a substantial remix since I last
heard it. The drums are particularly live sounding with some interweaved
horns for SK to get busy over. Immediately you can recognise that SK has
a pretty unique sound. Much of this track is an homage to his favourite
tipple and SK drops in a somewhat pissed way, his Brummie accent come
out to the fullest.
Gutted is a down tempo piano refrained tale of why SK raps the
Blues as he chats about all the things that aren't fair in his life.
People might think that he is parro, but he explains that people just
don't know why he is that way. He raps about having no dosh on the dole
and a rumbling belly, but one theme is how can he prevent himself
snapping when he can't even get some electricity. As the track progress
it builds to a crescendo as the orchestration increased until full on
strings are filling the mix.
Belief is a track which SK hopefully says could be a release. The
electronic bass with occasional weird acid effect on it along with the
live drums push this along. SK can't leave the depressing lyrics alone,
but he is able to see the situation he is in and is able to articulate
the things that he needs to do to improve his situation. On the
other hand Estates is a grim tale of where SK is from in Brum. It
is these tracks which open your eyes to his life or allow one to
empathise, but at the same time goes some way to describing why SK
chooses to write about what he does. Even if one tries to live and act
positively there are many other things holding you back on an Estate.
Whats Left To Push sees the addition of Lucy Moxon with a drab
and downbeat sung refrain which in its monotone way sets the picture
just as SK would have ordered it. Piano and a more complex drum pattern
are the backing for this extremely dark track and that is saying
something when you consider the vibe of the other tracks on here.
Battle With The Beast starts off with a rain shower soundscape as SK
goes back and forth arguing with a gruff voiced beast played by Chase.
How D'Ya Like Me Now is nothing like Kool Moe Dee's original. This
is semi death metal with hard core distorted guitars and a proper moshing headbanging cadence to it and as such I found it hard to listen
to the end of this.
Tongue in Cheek returns us to a more pleasant vibe on a sort of
De La tip the track opening up with some cuts from DJ Switch. SK turns
his attention to girls and it seems his disposition improves. A muted
horn adds a comedic feel to the lolloping lilt of the track which is
mirrored by SK's humorous tales of beer goggles and failed attempts at
pulling. The track is somewhat schizophrenic with a good few bars just
going off on some mental cymbal and drum frenzy. The Ace Face is
the one upbeat track which has a real incessant vibe to the beat. In
fact it is pretty manic and ends on the mad shocking statement of' 'thats
it, I love it'!!! Ecstacy Next To Me is where SK gets all
poetical. The production is minimal with just an expressive guitar
helping to lend a spoken word feel. This is his love story and shows
that with a good woman not all is lost on planet SK.
Gutted 2 returns us to the reality of SK's grimey existence, but
this is a powerful track and could be a stand out due to the piano and
strings which blend well for SK to have space to' 'abuse music' as he
puts it. What is supposedly the last track All MCs is a really
dirty affair with a distorted bassline in which SK gets all derogatory
about his competitors in the MCing game. SK tells us how his flows are,
'ruff as fuk' and if you aren't sweet he advises you to 'stay off the
beat'. The unlisted track 13 rounds off a competent LP. This is more of
a lecture from SK, not to be confused with another band Sidewalk Knowledge, in which he says he isn't
really a gangster, but is capable of taking a hammer to someone who rips
him off. Reading between the lines one feels this is directed at Mike
Skinner, but is also simply a guy who is struggling to keep it together
expressing his pain via music. The overriding sentiment is that whether
you are struggling to get by or in the business of trying to rip people
off the whole of society needs to, 'Fix Up!'.
The main and unusual thing apart from SK's slurred Brummie accent is the
live nature of the production with Guitar from Alex Death, Sax by
Andreja Sapie, bass by Fraser Girvan and additional drums from Fuzz
Townsend. Largely slow to mid tempo many of the tracks have a similar
sound and feel. I would have preferred a touch more sampling because
that is where I am coming from musically, but despite that I feel myself
connecting with the negativity pervading this release, but could
understand if others feel it is a bit too self indulgent and even
depressing.
The cover is a simple, but clever clever re-working of the famous Becks
Beer bottle label and through the glistening condensation you can see
that this is brewed in Brum. The back of the CD again resembles a beer
bottle label with instructions to play loud and that the contents are
100% proof! The credits are listed as ingredients and we can see that SK
has assembled a complete line up of musicians to help him realise his
music. As a whole this Sex, Drugs And On The Dole is a bit too samey,
but SK needs a good hearing to wash out your system. Email:geezerstyle@hotmail.com
:: Tel: 07969 465 119
Email:nedos@email.com :: Tel: 07971 684
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