Album review: Fridge Poetry-Retro Neon Contradiction

18 July 2014 - 11:37 By Dominic Skelton
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Retro Neon Contradiction
Retro Neon Contradiction
Image: Fridge Poetry

Retro Neon Contradiction offers an assorted listening experience with well crafted tracks of joyful reggae and sexy swing-ska fusion.

The band uses both trumpet and saxophone, a powerful mix of timbres adds to the diversity of the 12 track album. With some classy bass work, clean guitar tones and anthem singing this is a sure winner for anyone who wishes to escape into a happy land of shifting ska jams.

The album begins with Grey Generation where a moody trumpet intro is joined by lively up beat guitar strumming. The brass comes together later on and is a capturing opening to an album. The lyrical content of the song is a call against mass corporation and businessmen that don’t need to raise a finger.

Let It Go shows off bassist, Ivan Oberholster’s capabilities to run along the fret board. He also gets to play an interlude later on. Vocalist Tim Harbour is joined in melody by trumpeter Carrie-Anne Richardson. Male and female vocals together always add something extra, even if used sparingly.

Dukes St. begins with the instruction to “Swing” and is about bypassing lazy police to get a fix of green. Some little cameos of skatting come out of this track which is a great art if done properly, which it is.

The first guitar solo which is well supported by the drums and bass comes along in Social Suicide. Following this is a massive build up of a simple lyric-less melody where the guitar just gets more and more crunchy. Brass joins to give the extra kick and then returns into a more shouty version of the original chorus. Effective writing.

The Postman is seriously catchy with very fat bass walks. Jazzy overlays by the brass section gives the song a lot of attitude. A solo swap between the trumpet and the sax of Sidney Rubige is followed up by a long guitar solo with lots of bent notes and some fine shredding. The band grooves for a bit and then does an outlandish call and answer section. You can’t help but want to answer too.

Following a pretty world wide discussion at the moment the Clinch is about how some people who use medicinal cannabis are in the predicament where they have to hide their choices away. The songs says “It seems so crazy in a world sophisticated/ that we gotta try so hard to hide our medicating aid/ there some blacks, some whites, some greys and somewhere in between/ but green is the only one for me.”

Ska bands are all about revolution, and Fridge poetry does there own call for it in Sci-Fi Taxidermy. Its all about fitting into a generation. Some more spectacular bass playing comes through on this track and heavier tones from the guitars.

Overall the album has a solid sound, but with the drums quite low in the mix. Melodic and well-timed contributions from the brass and exceptional vocal parts please the ear. It is an engaging album where fans can get involved in singing along relatively easily.

It has a crazy album cover, with little ska-punk pals floating around in a rainbow of liquid.

Rating: 8/10

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