I’ve been listening to rather a lot of ska this week – my need for brass has well and truly been fulfilled. One of the best tracks I’ve come across is ‘Overzealous‘ from Slough-based FELLA. Mixing off-beat, fairly chilled out verses with intense rushing chrouses, the band are able to find a balance that results in a magnificent combination of indie and ska-punk.
Written by lead singer Pete Bromfield after an altercation at an unnamed festival, the anonymity is probably in the band’s best interests, your ears will be treated to just under 4 minutes of exquisite riffs, brilliantly detailed lyrics and a rampaging chorus that I can’t get enough of. As a huge Reel Big Fish fan (if you played FIFA 2000 you’ll know how perfect Sell Out is) I love it when you can mix brass with aggression and create a finished product full of energy, determination and sheer exuberance. The band tell the stories that we can all identify with and the lyrics accurately sum up the feelings of a generation constantly thwarted by bureaucracy.
I very much hope that this isn’t the last I hear of FELLA as the way in which their able to combine a more traditionally indie style with swarms of ska influences is a very welcome step for things to come. More of the same please lads.