Sounds Like: A mediation on dissent.

If I’m being honest, this may be the album that will have the most staying power in my rotation from 2021. It’s comforting, on so many levels. On the heels of their 2019 album Encore, The Specials had the plan to get right back in the studio.

Unfortunately, Covid complications doused that plan, and as they were deciding what regrouping could look like, 2020 erupted with protests of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, & Ahmaud Arbery. The moment was too big, and The Specials decided to pause their upcoming album and go in a new direction. Researching an exhaustive list of protest songs from across eras, the band landed with these twelve tracks, going all the way back to 1924.  

Now, this album speaks to me.

First, I’ve long lamented how with all the injustice over the last few decades, there hasn’t been sizable protest songs to meet the moment. So for me, this record scratches that itch. Second, they have picked some choice selections, from artists like Talking Heads, Leonard Cohen and Frank Zappa, but then also smaller songs that are ripe for rediscovery. Finally, the feel of this album is incredible. Each track has an easiness to it’s sound, almost like this is how the band would sit around and play songs with each other between takes.

 It’s that level of intimacy that make this collection really work - it feels personal, like the band would be playing these songs whether the tape was rolling or not. It’s not trying to do anything bold, or showy. Instead, it’s standing up a batch of really well played tracks that speak for themselves about the injustice that exists in our society. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most revolutionary.

Favorite Track:  They really do justice to one of my favorite Zappa tracks with “More Trouble Everyday,” But I also  dig their take on Cohen’s “Everybody Knows,” with it’s beautiful closing duet.