Mustard Plug

Mustard Plug: Yellow #5Yellow #5 (2002)
Hopeless Records

Reviewer Rating: 4.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: GregSkaGregSka
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on July 25th 2003In the spring of 1998 I embarked on one of the most boring moments of my life. Armed with a stick of deodorant, extra clothing, a toothbrush, and a walkman, I sat in the back of a smoke filled Oldsmobile with my girlfriend and her family as we drove to the other side of Ontario for a broomball tourn.

In the spring of 1998 I embarked on one of the most boring moments of my life. Armed with a stick of deodorant, extra clothing, a toothbrush, and a walkman, I sat in the back of a smoke filled Oldsmobile with my girlfriend and her family as we drove to the other side of Ontario for a broomball tournament. It was long and boring, and the Big Shiny Tunes tape I had was getting more annoying every minute that I listened to it. The day before I left, my brother had made me a tape of one of his own cds. I decided to give that a try instead. It was from a band called Mustard Plug, and crudely printed on the recordable tape were the words "Evildoers Beware". My brother had saved me from bad music. I listened to that tape for hours, until both pairs of batteries burnt out. Even as Dave Kichgessner's vocals became slow and slurred from the dying batteries, I still listened. A love for ska was born.

The music on that tape hasn't changed much from the music they still make today. It's still hard, catchy, and upbeat. If you listen to Yellow #5 in search of complexity, you're going to find energy instead. That's what Mustard Plug majors in, and that's why they're my favourite live band out there.

As the name suggests, Yellow #5 is the fifth studio release from Mustard Plug. I like to think of it as somewhat of a sequel to Evildoers Beware, the cd that got the band recognition in ska and punk scenes all over the world. Songs like "Not Enough" and "No One But Myself" would have fit on that cd perfectly. Other songs take on a different path from the usual ska-punk tunes Mustard Plug makes. "Get It Goin' On" is a fast rock song and "Already Gone" shows a bit of a soft spot that's not very common on the band's other songs. For the most part though, Mustard Plug sticks to their usual sound, which is probably the way most of the band's fans would have it. On this cd the trumpet and trombone go great with each other, and Dave and Colin's vocals have never sounded better. I thought the songs that stuck out most were "Not Enough", "You Want It, We Got It", "No One But Myself", and my own favourite "Just A Minute". These songs are catchy, and there's a good chance that they'll get stuck in your head after listening to them.

My only beef with the cd was that the recording and mixing quality didn't seem to be up there with the previous two Mustard Plug releases. After listening to the Hopelessly Devoted to You 4 version of "Not Enough" and comparing it with the version on Yellow #5, I actually liked the Hopeless sampler version better. It wasn't so bad as to take away the enjoyment from the cd though. Like I said before, this one is right up there with Evildoers.

If you're a fan of punk or ska, or you just like catchy, upbeat music, than you should check out this cd. It's by far Mustard Plug's most underrated work. This band has been rocking out for over a decade now so they know how please. As they say in "You Want It, We Got It" the price is right, the product's guaranteed.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (November 8, 2006)

BSD blows. I really really hate him.

Anonymous (November 24, 2005)

sing with me http://www.casino-los-angeles.com/doliyoli/casino-directory-2005. html

Anonymous (November 2, 2005)

"Yeah, most modern ska does suck. When is LoC gonna put out a new album?" --

LOC hasn't really done shit lately but you should check out fox trotsky. they just came out with a full length and it seems pretty loc influenced. good punk ska core. www.myspace.com/foxtrotsky

Anonymous (March 2, 2004)

Catch 22 is dead man, the album to save ska is Streetlight Manifesto - Everything Went Numb.

Anonymous (September 24, 2003)

Fuck all you assholes, mustard plug is the best skapunk band ever in my opinion, better than the overrated bosstones, better than LTJ who abandoned the genre, mustard plug is here to say so go eat a pile of shit and i dare you to tell me a better band live and a better bunch of guys

gutterhippo (July 31, 2003)

"if you dont like ska dont listen to it."

i love ska and i love this band. they're awesome live and their previous releases are timeless. I got this album the day it came out, and I've hated it ever since. It just sounds so bland and lame.

i saw a zine ad for this album which hailed it as "the album that will save ska." i was hoping it would too, but this album just plain sucks. i guess we'll have to wait for the new catch 22 album to save ska.

Anonymous (July 31, 2003)

if you dont like ska dont listen to it. i like this one and i like this band.

Anonymous (July 28, 2003)

BSD. SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP. OLD DOES NOT MEAN GOOD. Unless we're talking about Led Zeppelin. In which case, all bets are off.

Manman (July 28, 2003)

Mustard Plug: Yellow #5. If this guys gritty voice doesn't rip a hole in your brain than the lyrics won't. Punk? No way. These guys are ska. Ska on Punknews.org? What is this place anyway? Oh well. Their previous album was alright. This one, not so good. Hopefully, Ketchup Klog doesn't follow.

timis (July 28, 2003)

i guess sanguis has a new band (not ska)...that dude can write some good tunes...i have some high expectations for them. even telegraph's latest cd is damn good.....

Anonymous (July 28, 2003)

Oh Mustard Plug. File under "Man, even when i was mad into ska I thought these guys sucked." How this band ended up on a decent sized label with a following instead of fellow Michigan-ers Telegraph (aka Skolars) is mystifying. The latter band was SOOO much better. I think you can still get the "Blue" CD from Jump Up! and I guarantee its ten times better than whatever these shit heads are putting out these days...

Smile!
--Cos

Anonymous (July 28, 2003)

this is probably the worst review i've ever written of mustard plug's worst album ever.

Anonymous (July 27, 2003)

i was a huge fan of their last 2 albums, but sadly, this one blows. its the same shit, just not as good. maybe if i was 18 and still real into ska, i'd like it, but i'd rather just listen to their old albums. and get it goin on and u want it we got it are terribly cheesey and suck. already gone is good, but it just sounds like a remix of 'you'.

Anonymous (July 27, 2003)

Yeah, most modern ska does suck. When is LoC gonna put out a new album?

-BSD

Anonymous (July 26, 2003)

I liked it.

funkisdead (July 26, 2003)

man, ska died years ago.
its time to breathe life back into the forgotten genre.

gutterhippo (July 26, 2003)

this cd was such a huge disappointment! I bought it the first day it came out hoping that it would sound as great as mojo, but i felt that this release lacks what the reviewer says mustard plug does best: energy. even the packaging is horrible. and on a side note, wasn't this already reviewed? why doesn't it have a [2] next to it?

Anonymous (July 26, 2003)

The review is right on with the mixing on the cd. The vocals especially seemed to be mixed very quiet. Its really annoying.

timis (July 25, 2003)

musturd plug is still around????? man, this band needs to go away....evildoers is their last album as far as i am concerned....and colin's new band->is horrid as well

heybarmold (July 25, 2003)

This album was great. I loved it, but yeah, when i want to listen to good ska, i bust out evildoers beware.

ramo (July 25, 2003)

an ok album, but nowhere near "big daddy multitude" or "evildoers beware."

Anonymous (July 25, 2003)

*chanted* die ska die, die ska die, die ska die

punky (July 25, 2003)

good review, great band.