The Planet Smashers

Unstoppable (2005)

Tim Krysko

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.

Considering this band's consistency, "more of the same" was a perfectly reasonable expectation from their sixth full-length album. And, that's what the band tried to achieve, I speculate at least, but this time around they're not even pretending to have a written a new album. Every line sounds rehashed and self-plagiarised, owing to the fact that there's not a single catchy melody or half-decent sing-along. Far too many songs are tediously slow; aside from the cringeworthy and repetitive "Raise Your Glass," there's hardly anything uplifting to be found here. There's not even any chilled-out reggae tracks; it's all mid-tempo album-stuffing.

They don't sound like they're having fun anymore; they're on autopilot, pulling songs out of their asses because they've been doing ones just like them for so long they can get away with it. It works when I write term papers, but I expect better from bands I like.

[originally written for Punk International]