While those with only a glancing knowledge of music history think of late seventies/early eighties England as the era of punk, as and perhaps more significant was the 2 Tone ska revival, bringing the Jamaican sound to less-than-merry ol’ England, uniting white and black, party and politics, nowhere more so than in the kings of the scene, The Specials. Everyone could skank to “Too Much Too Young” or “Nite Klub”, but also put their fists up in solidarity to “Free Nelson Mandela” or “Racist Friend”. Eventually, the sound moved on (as did founder/songwriter Jerry Dammers), but ska has had many rebirths, from the ‘Third Wave’ of New York ska in the nineties to ska-punks of today. And now The Specials return with their first album with original singer Terry Hall since 1980, Encore, that brings the old 2 Tone two-step back.
One thing that Encore particularly shows off is the diversity in ska: not just skin color, but sonic style, something that has been forgotten thanks to pale copies. There’s the disco of opener “Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys”, which admittedly is an old cover, but holds up today in both sound and message (because disco’s back, and racism & war never went away). But there’s also the relaxed ska of “Vote For Me” and “We Sell Hope”, and political ditties “The Lunatics” and “Breaking Point”.
Admittedly, not every sound and/or message works as well. “Embarrassed By You” is a great kiss-off to all the “nasty little brutes” that think that the freedom won for them is the freedom to hurt. “B.L.M.” might teach & preach despite itself, but reaches as well – however, the spoken word feminism of Saffiyah Kahn’s “10 Commandments” unfortunately feels more tiresome. And the old “Blam Blam Fever” has a great message, but it’s far more applicable to the gun-happy U.S. than U.K.
Of course The Specials were going to be political in their return – this is the twenty-first century, and this is The Specials (though there’s no riff on Brexit, perhaps because some of their greying rude boy fans voted Leave and now want No Deal). And it can’t as powerful as the band once was, in Encore. But it’s high time The Specials made their voices heard again.
