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| The Planet SmashersUnstoppable2005 Union Label Group / Stomp 
 Review by: Tim-PunkInternational See others by this writer Planet Smashers (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on July 29th 2005
I've been known to say that Montreal's Planet Smashers are one of the last remaining great bands that ska still has to offer. Their 2003 album put a ska album into my regular rotation for the first time since the turn of the century, even. Well, no more. 2005's Unstoppable sees the band choke so bad I have to look away.
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I just wrote the previous message and I forgot to add! Ejaculine rules! Has the writter of this review seen planet in a show latly? They are clearly still having fun! And any ska fan will love this album even if its more of the same. Also, ska doesn't always have to be fast and upbeat like raise your glass budy, a slower album once in a while does no harm :-) "To the guy who said he liked ska until he got to age 12.... To the guy who said he liked ska until he got to age 12.... "I agree with you but Rx bandits, Slackers and especially Bedouin Soundclash are awesome. But I still got love for the Smashers. Theirs still good ska around, and a lot of good ol' ska to listen too like Desmond Dekker, Skatalites, Melodians, Ethiopians, Bad manners, Selecter, The Beat...... But I'm still hoping for a new Hepcat cd...maybe one day! I used to like ska, but then I turned 12. I agree with you but Rx bandits, Slackers and especially Bedouin Soundclash are awesome. But I still got love for the Smashers. Theirs still good ska around, and a lot of good ol' ska to listen too like Desmond Dekker, Skatalites, Melodians, Ethiopians, Bad manners, Selecter, The Beat...... But I'm still hoping for a new Hepcat cd...maybe one day! How about the Slackers, Rx Bandits, Bedouin Soundclash, Suicide Machines, and Dead 60's... My Chemical Romance basically gets a handjob from the reviewers here but The Planet Smashers get spat on. Obviously the fake Chinatown, but regardless: This band is almost as overrated as Big D and the Kids Table. Seriously, the Mad Caddies wipe the floor with all of the current ska bands in the world. They're just so much more original. Wow I can't beleive you would give this one star. It may not be there best cd but it's still better than most ska and better than all the emo and hardcore crap that's out these days. This site needs more ska reviews, I'm so tired of seeing reviews of emo and hardcore. Why wont this trend end already!?? For sure not their best album, but still deserve way more than 1 star. chill out brahs, the only waves i know of our the ones i just surfed. There are very few debates, and there are very few ska reviews anymore. i like how every ska review there is a debate about the origins of ska and the "waves". stop giving two shits, the bands dont. Dude, it's an early sunday morning. I've got nothing to do BUT read music websites and relax. After all, I spent five days a week leading volunteers building houses for people who can't afford a market price home with Habitat for Humanity. I think I'm afforded a few minutes of random internerdery every once in a while. I hope you spend as much time analzying the important things in your life as you do figuring out which f'n generation of ska a certain band is. Get a life. Oh, and Big D started in 1995, so not quite "after" the third wave. To the guy who was ranting about Ska, you couldn't be less informed. The explosion of the 3rd wave was interesting, because it happened simultaneously in several places, and that resulted in a lot of bands with similar sounds, but each area generally had a different element emphasised. The East Coast/NYC/DC sound was much much more rooted in the two tone sound and jazz (while including elements of punk), Boston's drew from the HC scene, and the west coast drew from the strong punk roots there (as well as the absurdly sunny outlook on life). Christ, you people know nothing about ska. Less Than Jake, MM Bosstones, Catch 22, Big D etc. are ska-punk or punk-ska however you like it. Fun bands though they may be, their songs are so far removed from the ska sound that they may as well just call them punk with horns, as that's a much closer approximation. A horn section and cliched upstroke verses does not a ska band make. the only thing i could see coming as a "fourth wave" would be this whole new hardcore/ska that's coming about. but as mentioned before there aren't enough bands actually playing it. big d was heading in that direction with gipsy hill but their newest release is back to more of the punk/ska. other bands like that are flaming tsunami's, a billion ernies and folly. however that's three bands. every time mustard plug brought these guys to town, they were hailed as the second coming of christ, but they never really blew me away. Too little tempo deviation and their hooks didn't catch me. ...unlike the plug whose songs can be picked up and shouted back at them by the 2nd chorus. i star? you guys are fucking deaf. stop listening to music. Streetlight and Big D were formed after the third wave, but are rooted in it. SM is supposed to sound like Keasbey Nights-era Catch 22 (half those guys are in the band). Big D sounds a little harder than Less than Jake did, but there were bands back in the day that did that too (Voodoo Glow Skulls maybe?) To make a fourth wave the sound would have to be a real departure and a lot of people would have to be playing it. I've seen these guys live a few times and each time they play, the sax player hooks up a wireless mic to his horn and kind of walks back and forth on stage. He doesn't do anything but slowly stalk back and forth while playing. For some reason that really irritates me. It was like watching a wind up toy...maybe trying to hypnotize the crowd? I think it's a pretty good album....... Tim's got it all wrong. This album's better than Mighty. It's shorter and more consistent, with enough variety that it doesn't get boring. There are a couple songs that could've been cut, and the lyrics range from alright to embarrasingly bad, but for the most part Unstoppable feautures a lot of upbeat ska tunes with some great choruses. how the fuck can you say that you like their old material and then say you dont like (what sounds like) a remake, hmmm puzzling Don't expect this record to change your life and you will be fine with it. I really don't like the vocalist for Big D. His singing bothers me, and the lyrics, well...aren't that great. But the band is talented, and that's enough for me to listen to them. I've said it before, but Big D would be so much better if their singer wasn't so whiney sounding at times. Seriously. I don't think so, I'd consider a new wave when we get a major shift in style / sound along with a critical mass of attention. There were big changes between 60s Jamaica, 80s Britain and 90s USA / Canada. Streetlight and Big D don't amount to a "wave" in my mind. Question - A let down after Mighty, but by no means is it only one star. yeah its def not their best, but definately deserves more than a 1 star. It's not their best, but it's not that bad. Most people who enjoy the band will probably get a few kicks out of it, there just aren't many standout tracks. Mighty review: http://www.punknews.org/reviews.php?op=albumreview&id=1980 the mighty mighty bosstones were the best 3rd wave ska band Yep, pretty much sums it up. Wow, after how great Mighty was... too bad. Haven't heard the album but the review is enough I guess. Harsh review, I still like it. Granted I tend to listen to Giants and the title track and not much else. Wow, after how great Mighty was... too bad. Haven't heard the album but the review is enough I guess. OUCH. Mighty had way too many songs to hold my interest but these guys are still pretty good I concur i found this album to be very diffrent from previous releases and diffrent sure musically it's pretty similar stuff but I mean consistency is not necassarily a bad thing. The real place where there's improvement and growth is the lyrics except for Raise your glass they've dropped the"we're a goofy ska band" routine. and there's more substance behind what matt sings I just wish he diden't do away with the wit completly and wrote more songs lyrically akin tothe No Control album. Though I do definitly agree that it is not as memorable as past releases but I geuss it can't always be a "super porno orgy party" i never bought what these guys were selling...i always thought it was kinda generic |
