Here at Fuzztone, we try not to hate any music.  Even ska (which is surely on its seventh or eighth wave by now). Instead, we look for the positive.   But Big D and the Kids Table’s brand spanking new album Fluent in Stroll almost made us betray our core belief in the validity of all music.

The album was played over and over again, each time carefully picking apart what it was about the album that seemed so impenetrable, and the only thing that we’ve found is that there is a distinct lack of fun on Fluent in Stroll.

Post 1990 ska all seems the same, sure. But it always seems to have an unbridled sense of joy attached to it, and Big D and the Kids Table seem to have none of that.  Instead, it’s a forced feeling of whimsy. The songs are too laid back to rock and to rocking to be laid back.  Instead, they just are there. Like pants from The Gap, thrown over a mannequin wearing a smart blue button down: offensive in their inoffensiveness.

We want to like Big D and the Kids Table, we do.  They seem like nice band who would probably under the right circumstances be a lot of fun live.  But the album just sounds and feels so vanilla.

We’re sorry, Big D.

Big D and the Kids Table on the web