Big D and the Kids Table is a Boston ska bandon Fork in Hand Records. Big D recently released their long-awaited soloalbum, “Good Luck.”
Big D is known for fast, energeticmusic with a good blend of slow ska and fast-paced rapping. The band’sfrontman and lead vocalist, Dave McWane, puts on a great show; othermembers include Marc Flynn, vocals and valve trombone; Steve Foote onbass; John Lammi playing guitar; Max MacVetty on drums, and a ratherlarge five-person horn section. The CD has 15 energetic tracks including”Myself,” “Can’t be Caught” and “51Gardner.” The first track, “Myself,” is lively, withhorns blasting and roaring vocals. Many will consider this the best songon the CD. The next two are similar in style and sound. The fourthtrack, “Are You Just Scared?” has a very different style. Thetempo slows and the lyrics become more rhythmic. This is for those wholike a slow ska song with great horn backing. “Fatman” issimilar, but slowly grows in intensity. “She Won’t Ever Figure ItOut” is also a fast-paced, rhythmic song with rap between theverses. By now the listener thinks he knows what the rest of the CD isgoing to sound like, but “Take Another Look” is a hard, loud,angry song with Dave screaming at the top of his lungs. It may be loud,but it adds a nice twist to the disc. “51 Gardner” may be BigD and the Kids Table’s best song because of the upbeat tempo and harmonybetween vocals and horns. The song starts off slow, but speeds up totraditional punk/ ska tempo. With the interaction between the twovocalists, many will love it.
This is one of the best ska CDs outthere. Big D and the Kids Table have everything a true ska fan wants andwith the many tempo changes will be one of the better CDs they own. Theonly downside is the high-pitched and sometimes squeaky Dave McWane. Hedoes great in the traditional ska tracks, but in songs like “TakeAnother Look” his voice gets high as he screams. For any ska orpunk lover, this is a great buy at $10. This long-awaited album lives upto the hype and provides a great experience listeners will not soonforget.