FISHBONE — Fishbone (review)

FISHBONE — Fishbone album cover EP · 1985 · Dub/Ska/Reggae Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
siLLy puPPy
If you're looking for the FISHBONE albums that contain ingredients of metal do not look here! Skip this debut EP and head straight to their 2nd full album release TRUTH AND SOUL. This is a jazzy funkified alternative ska trip here.

FISHBONE is one of those unique entities in music that really cannot be pigeonholed into any particular category or genre of music no matter how hard the critics try. First of all they are all African American musicians who eschewed the straight-on jazz, hip hop, R&B or soul that was popular in the 80s and instead chose all of the above (well except the hip hop I guess )and mixed in a healthy dose of ska and funk to create a unique sound making them one of the most original and eclectic alternative bands of the 80s.

This is most likely going to be a love it or hate it album for most. It will exhilarate or irritate. For me I love this EP from beginning to end. Its ingenuity, its utter contempt for obeying ordained trends in music, its in-your-face attitude and social critique, its zaniness and unexpected cleverness. All packed into a less than 30-minute EP. It is true that the production is not so great and FISHBONE albums are crying out for re-masterings but I tend to judge music by the songs themselves and give a little leniency to production unless its just ridiculously horrendous.

The track "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F." stands for "Voyage to the Land of the Freeze-Dried Godzilla Farts", as confirmed on the band's website, and is about a government attempt to convince the public that Hiroshima was actually caused by Godzilla farting. The track "Party at Ground Zero" remains one of the band's most popular tracks which features aspects of a contemporary big band sound. “Lyin' Ass Bitch” is one of the most freakin' hilarious songs i've ever heard.

If you want some ridiculously original and outside-of-the-box music look no further than FISHBONE. They had the talent to mix different musical genres and twist them until they probably could be called a new musical genre if others followed suit. Inspirational, exploitational and gratifying!
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