Mouthwash

True Stories has been recently re-released by Rebel Alliance Recordings, so here's my review before the hype gets going.

Considering that this band used to be high flying globe-trotters in their Hellcat days, this CD demonstrates the fact that none of it has gone to their heads, but that they've learned a helluva lot along the way. This album is a brilliant, considerate, chilled-out narrative of day-to-day city life. It's way more consistent than their last album (from 2001!) with every song as memorable as the first. Live, this band play with the raw vivacity of a bunch of teens, but their music has so much more than that.

On the whole it's a dark, heavy, grimey piece of work but with joyful, summery inclinations (if that makes sense?), probably because every song is underlined with ska strokes. Whether it's the dirty grime intro track, the haunting guitars and "whoa"s of "N68," the jolly dub-infused "No Fear," the poppy sing-along of "That Girl" or the spooky techno-type feel of "Everyday Feeling," there's probably something here for you.

This is an awful review 'cos this CD is hard to categorize. Imagine if Sonic Boom Six had been playing loads of "Guitar Hero 3" and then covered some new King Blues tracks and Leila was off sick -- you might be close, at least?