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Slow Gherkin

Shed Some Skin (1998)
Asian Man Records

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Contributed by: Sciulli
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on July 25th 2003

A few months before Slow Gherkin's last release came out ("Run Screaming"), Punknews posted an MP3 of the song "Sally Boulevard" from the new disc. I instantly fell in love with the song and began researching the band. Since their new albums wasn't out yet, I had to resort to some of the bands older material. This turned out to a blessing in disguise. Quality bass lines and fun horns are the musical highlights of this album which has a real "summer" quality to it. As for the vocals, I figure them to be a love/hate situation with most people, you'll just really have to hear the band and decide for yourself if they are of your liking. The singing comes through as quite aggressive at times, but generally there's more of a laid back feel to the songs.

The disc starts out with a rumbling, simplistic bass line in "Trapped Like Rats in Meyers Flat" (downloadable at the end of the review). My first impression was that the album would have a dark tone, but that is soon squashed as the horns kick in with a burst of energy. The music here is best described as ska-rock. Don't expect any punk-ish influences as heard with bands such as Catch 22 and the Suicide Machines. Some of the songs even exuberate an 80s vibe; the second track "Another in Your Life" displays this quite well. Personally, this is one of my favorite tracks on the album and really locked this in as a purchase. The build up to the chorus and the actual chorus are the highlights of this song.

The next two tracks, "I Only Smoke When I'm Drunk" and "Turned Off," show a darker side of the band (at least compared to the first two songs). "Turned Off" shows off some fast, aggressive singing which leads up to a good guitar breakdown and into a solid bridge.

"Get Some More" starts off with some good gang vocals, which then segues into a rolling bass line that flows throughout the song. This song is one of the more high energy numbers found on "Shed Some Skin," and is definitely a favorite. 3/4 of the way through a song, a great breakdown emerges with some nice guitar and bass interaction. The song slowly builds up and ends at it's highest point energy wise.

Another standout track is "Reminder." A great guitar intro really pulls you into the song and holds your interest. This song has a really laid back, fun feel to it and is definitely an easy listen. The line "On the ground my happiness is double/ Twice as happy on the ground/ I stood up, now I fall down" is one of the highlights of the whole album.

Closing out the great "Shed Some Skin" is the song "How Now Lowbrow." This song starts off with a soft guitar part and and then the energy really picks up (similiar to the first track). The chorus in this song provides some more gang vocals. At about four minutes, the song slows way down to a crawl. The energy slowly dies off and the music beings to softly fade away.

To sum my feelings up, this is a incredible, feel good ska-rock album by the now (saddly) defunct Slow Gherkin. The album may take a few listens to really warm up to, and others may be turned off by the style of vocals, but overall this is a must buy for any music fan looking for something new and fresh.

MP3
Trapped Like Rats In Myers Flat

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nedsammy (May 30, 2011)

Possibly the greatest 3rd wave ska album ever, but there's still 40oz to Freedom, Hello Rockview and Keasby Nights.

Anonymous (July 29, 2003)

Linkin Park is a kick ass third-wave Ska band.

eyeball_kid (July 29, 2003)

Awesome album by a generally awesome band, the best on Asian Man. It's a pity they basically dropped the ska for 'Run Screaming' but the songwriting is just as good if not better. Just glad I got to see these guys (on a bill with Frenzal Rhomb bizarrely) before they split.

fallingtopieces (July 28, 2003)

somebody is selling that split on ebay right now, but they want like $13 for it and no its not my auction. HOWEVER i would suggest buying SLOW GHERKIN'S "ROMAN HOLIDAY" cd off of interpunk instead, it has all the split tracks plus some other stuff, its the goods yo

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http://cgi. ebay.com/ws/&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortPro perty=MetaEndSort&query=slow gherkin

Anonymous (July 26, 2003)

To Scott:

Damn. Thanks for the info anyway. Maybe i'll eventually try eBaY.

maverick (July 25, 2003)

To the guy looking for the Slow Gherkin/Rx Bandits split CD:

Good luck. It was a limited pressing and took me damn near forever to track a copy down. I can't even remember exactly where I got it from, I just remember it was on the internet somewhere.

-Scott

TahoeJeff (July 25, 2003)

Definately one of the best ska albums ever...something about slow gherkin just makes me want to dance

SOYBOMB (July 25, 2003)

Oh my god, someone else feels like I do... This CD is amazing... The guitar intro for "Reminder" is easily one of the catchiest things I've ever heard in my life.. that line also, "On the ground my happiness is double twice as happy on the ground/I stood up now I fall down" makes no sense to me but owns all. The entire CD is soo awesome.

Slow Gherkin has to be one of my personal favorite bands definitely. Ugh, I just want to keep ranting and raving about these guys but I guess most should get the picture.

and Scott, amen to that, people totally fucked up what could have been one of the most solid bands around. Their CD's were progressively getting better too.. It makes me want to honestly cry when I dwell on it.

Peace,
-SOYBOMB-

Anonymous (July 25, 2003)

This is one of my favorite discs of all time. I remember seeing these guys at the foxfire in Minneapolis a few years back. That show tops my list as well. damn. the split with RXB is great, too.

Hey, speaking of that split with RxB, can you still pick that up? I've been looking for it without success.

It's funny how some of the crappy "ska" bands are still around, and yet many of the really good ones (including Slow Gherkin) have broken up. Actually, that's not funny. It sucks.

fallingtopieces (July 25, 2003)

This is one of my all time favorite records as well. They really deserve all the credit the recieve. Plus, theyre from my home town which makes me the lucky one.

Sciulli (July 25, 2003)

Man I just found like four errors in punctuation.

I guess I shouldn't write reviews at 4 AM and then submit them right away anymore.

Anonymous (July 25, 2003)

This is one of my favorite discs of all time. I remember seeing these guys at the foxfire in Minneapolis a few years back. That show tops my list as well. damn. the split with RXB is great, too.

Anonymous (July 25, 2003)

i remember when i had all my friends in my house, we couldn't agree on what to listen to. then i put this on and everyone was sattisfied. god this is an incredible cd. good ska good songwriting = great album. a long standing favorite.

maverick (July 25, 2003)

Great, great, great CD. The fact that this band broke up shows you that the world sure knows how to botch things up when good music comes around.

-Scott