Search - The Skids :: Sweet Suburbia: Best of

The Shock of the New

James Bergey | Philadelphia, PA United States | 03/15/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the early 80's, the Skids awoke me from my musical slumber with the kind of jolt that occurs only sporadically over a lifetime. Never had I heard something so powerful, so musically affirming. As an American, I had the added bonus of keeping the band all to myself, since no one in the States ever heard of them. Playing with a tightness and deftness uncommon in the punk tradition, the Skids' songwriters were vocalist Richard Jobson and guitarist Stuart Adamson. In the span of a few short years, the Skids pumped out four brilliant albums before dissolving. All four find representation on this collection, but, as is always the case with any anthology, there exists the problem of what to include or omit. Left off this disc are two vital songs: "Scale", from their debut, and the anthemic "Arena", from the third album. It is good to see the inclusion of "Fields" and "Iona" from the final release, Joy. Unfortunately, these last tracks fail to convey the overall aura of that album -- a folk album in the truest sense of the word. By the time Joy was released in 1982, Jobson had moved far away from the aesthetic that had informed the Skids and break-up was inevitable. Adamson moved on and formed the commercially accessible Big Country, while Jobson created the short-lived but brilliant Armoury Show. Despite the passage of time, the music of the Skids remain as compelling today as when it was first released. In a testament to their iconoclasm, consider the following stanza from the rousing "Fields" and ask yourself where in music today can you find such sentiment:"O shift thy feet, O peasant one -- pull and tug your burdenEven here the sweat will gain -- the firm belief so Christian!""

'SKIDS YA BASS'

James Bergey | 07/07/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So said the graffiti on every school desk in Scotland round about 1978. How can I explain the swaggering vainglory of the Skids in their prime? Think of Scots artist Peter Howson's wild canvases of muscle-bound, granite jawed figures squinting into the hard light and cold winds of the North Sea. The band are virtually unknown outside the UK.The Skids, along with the Rezillos, were Scotland's first major punk act, with a string of top twenty hits to their credit. In retrospect, it's true that they sounded nothing like the Ramones and their recordings are just too polished for any 'Bloodstains across . .' compilation, but that's just the way things turned out here. The Exploited didn't come along till later. The sound of the Skids had that unique, and very punk, quality that comes of people who have taught themselves how to play along with the sound of their favourite records in their heads. It's hard now to know just what those records were. There's certainly a touch of glam there, maybe Mott the Hoople. The singer's hard Scots vowels and lusty football terrace yodel combined with the band's wild attack to bury any such influences deep. The result was a hard edged dandyism, just what you'd expect from a tough little industrial town like Dunfermline, where any pretension would have to be backed up with fists. You felt these flailing chords and poses could knock out teeth if you got too close. The Skids all-time classic 'Into the valley' turns up on compilations of UK major label punk. It's here, along with a double handful of equally wild rabble rousers, with a sound that later influenced the Ruts. Every chord brings back the smell of dodgy roll-ups and hairspray, the taste of snakebite, all in one mad rush. Glory days."

Skids Ahoy

D. Evans | Grand Rapids, MI. United States | 01/03/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Skids were one of the classiest punk bands to come out of the U.K. during the seventies, and this masterful compilation shines just as much now as it did when the Skids were causing ripples throughout the Highlands. Classics like "Into the Valley", "Charade" And "Of One Skin" Will always be a reminder of when Punk music and The Skids ruled the land."