Streetlight Manifesto -Keasbey Nights

Sat 18th Mar, 2006 in Music Reviews

It seems that Tomas Kalnoky is a man who just doesn’t know what he wants.  The one time creative genius and front man of seminal ska-punk revivalists Catch-22, he ditched the aforementioned band to form a paler imitation in Streetlight Manifesto.  In an effort to further confuse fans he has now released Catch-22’s Keasbey Nights under the guise of Streetlight Manifesto.

Kalnoky cited the arduous and endless touring schedule as the reason for his hasty departure from Catch-22 but the ska-punk grapevine knew that this was an acrimonious split and hinted of some kind of deeper fracture within the band.  Catch-22 replaced Kalnoky with two sub standard members, a vocalist and guitarist, who struggled with their respective jobs and lacked the passion and dedication that Kalnoky had brought to the music.  Kalnoky toured incessantly with Streetlight Manifesto but musical karma came when the band was robbed of $80,000 of musical equipment while touring Europe.  This happened twice, and in as many months.

If every band is destined to have their one musical zenith, then Catch-22’s would certainly be Keasbey Nights.  A tribute to the third wave ska revival brought to the fore by Tim Armstrong’s influential ska-punk outfit Operation Ivy and his subsequent foray with Rancid, it firmly entrenched the genre into the hearts, minds and wallets of a new generation of punk fans.  Kalnoky and co delivered bigger horns with fast paced hardcore vocals that garnered both the critical adulation and doting fanbase they desired.  It became the biggest selling album their label had ever seen and it seemed that ska-punk would no longer play the bridesmaid to hardcore’s bride.

As profitable as the album was for Catch-22 it still seems rather strange that Kalnoky has re-released the album with Streetlight Manifesto, despite the fact that he holds the copyright to the songs.  There is no doubt that the production quality is far superior to the grainy original.  The music is much tighter, the horns are sharper and the vocals are now intelligible but it doesn’t make up for the fact that the album lacks the passion and spontaneity of the original.  It would be hard for the other members of Streetlight Manifesto to imbue the songs with any passion when the spiritual ownership of the material rests with Catch-22.  The sense of urgency has dissipated but you can’ fault the band for not trying to deliver.

It’s not all that bad though and most first time listeners would be thoroughly pleased.  The familiar opening to Dear Sergio with its lush horns and spitfire vocals sounds brilliant and the extra verse placates disgruntled fans who referred to this album as Kalnoky’s ‘cash cow’(as a means of recovering money lost to the thefts).  Sick and Sad , Keasbey Nights and On and On and On continue the resounding horns and hardcore theme and sound much better than their original versions.  Day In Day Out still contains the dubious lyric ‘alone in my room with a bucket full of phlegm’ and Kalnoky’s husky vocals lack gusto but it doesn’t detract from its impact.  The group chorus and trumpets are used to full effect here.

The old school jazz trumpet and brilliant rhythm section on Walking Away could have been lifted from a smoky 1940’s jazz den and Giving Up, Giving In is true punk with rapid vocals and a drummer who pounds the skins as fast as is humanly possible. The lush horns on the instrumental Riding the Fourth Wave resonate throughout the song and the music is much tighter and more vibrant than the original and perhaps a testament to the aptitude of the other members of the band. The typically ska-punk This One Goes Out To, Supernothing and 9mm and a Three Piece Suit would easily stand up as the best of their genre giving well known ska bands such as Reel Big Fish and Fishbone a lesson on how it’s done.

Kristina She Don’t Know I Exist is perhaps the weakest song on the album, with the vocals themselves sounding whiny and feeble and no match for the horns which sound warm and uplifting.  The strong bass line on As the Footsteps Die Out Forever is enough to win me over but the soft and sweet vocals interwoven with frenetic drumming and growling chorus make this song defy genres.  1234 1234 continues the soft melodic vocals and group ‘whoah’s’ (every punk song worth its salt should contain at least one drawn out wh-o-o-ah) but the shout outs at the end have been replaced by a naff computer manipulated voiceover which drones on about the re-release of the album.

There is a disclaimer at the beginning of the liner notes which hints at the friction the re-release has caused: ‘There is absolutely no way of explaining the existence of this record you now hold in your hands without somehow offending, infuriating, confusing or alienating certain parties, so we won’t even try. Please enjoy this for what it is’. It seems that Kalnoky himself has yet to figure what this ‘it’ actually is.  The fans already have and have decided that even though he may legally own the copyright to the album, Keasbey Nights will always belong to Catch-22.