You have to respect a band for sticking with it. While the aggressive, energetic, sometimes sophomoric hybrid of skacore is limited by the very traits that make it great,
Voodoo Glow Skulls continue to make strong albums. They might not innovate, but they always entertain. The longstanding Inland Empire combo returns to Victory Records for Adicción, Tradición, Revolución, their seventh album and latest blast of hardcore-derived chording smashing into punchy horn charts and the raucous, often bilingual vocal chants of Frank. Whereas 2002's Steady as She Goes suffered from weak production,
VGS get it right with Adicción. The guitars are thick and gritty, the drum sound is way past live, and the horns tingle with treble. "We did not use protools or any other computer programs to record this album," the liners state, and the stance is another illustration of the band's proud, almost defiant aesthetic stance. Yes, there are limitations to the skacore sound. Yes,
Voodoo Glow Skulls still have a bit of trouble filling out a whole album. But none of that matters to their fans, and there's more than enough here to please. "Ghettoblaster" stutters into its upbeat, classicist skacore groove after a Clockwork Orange vamp, while "Mayhem and Murder" and "Smile Now, Cry Later" ably present two sides of the band's sound, the former unleashing a steely guitar line, while the latter is flavored with an easygoing Studio One lilt. The horns are Spanish-tinged for the hardcore rant "Día de los Muertos," while "We Represent" and "Musical Pollution" are later-album standouts in the same propulsive vein. A relentlessly driving album, Adicción, Tradición, Revolución could've used a couple more tracks like the lighter "Smile Now, Cry Later." As that track proves,
Voodoo Glow Skulls are as good at subtlety as they are at creating exciting volatility. They do end the record with a fun, ska-fried version of
Guns n' Roses' "Used to Love Her," and that's a nice breather after the heavy lifting. ~ Johnny Loftus