Buster Shuffle
Our Night Out
Burning Heart Records
Good times never die, and this band from London Town breathes life into the cool old Brit music hall sound that Madness and Desmond Dekker made popular. These blokes pack clean pop arrangements with clear, easy to interpret lyrics that are great for drinking, dancing and making out. And if you’re any good, all three at once. I’ll pick a few cherries for you here, just realize none of these tunes are downers or burning with social reform issues. “Our Night Out” begins with a quickly danceable intro by a voice in the style of Monty Python’s “Pepper Pots.” Then, we launch into a set of shaved head and suspendered pants love songs. Our singer is offended to see his girl dancing with someone else but gets put in his place when it turns out that was her baby brother. Be easy on the kid. A few tracks later things progress to actual employment (At The Bank), and the dance hall vibe is replaced by a crappy bank job stench. But it IS a job and enough for a guy to afford a girl friend. Girlfriends are an expensive hobby.
“Maneater” takes us down a darker path: here, a man meets a woman in a bar, and she’s more than he bargained for. I suspect she’s growing on him, even if bits of limbs are disappearing when he’s not looking. Later we ride the #38 Bus in “The Thirty Eighth” and experience all the horrors of public transit: bad musical choices by fellow riders, poor public hygiene, and smelly curries. Oddly, it’s a sort of love song, but the object of affection is mechanical. I’m not judging. Anyway, this is a fun band with crisp arrangements, and a very British view of the world. They pass on the anger of punk or metal. It’s just blokes doing the best they can, aiming to to support the British middle class. I hope they survive Brexit.
