SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FISHBONE – FISHBONE

Fishbone
Fishbone
Bottles To The Ground

There is much to celebrate with the release of Fishbone’s self-title EP. For starters, Fishbone is their first collection of new music in six years. An even greater feat, it is their first release with Chris Dowd on vocals and keys since 1994 and features four of the band’s six original members, flanked out with long-serving alumni. Produced by NOFX’s Fat Mike, and the first major release from his new imprint, Bottles To The Ground, Fishbone dropped almost 40

years to the date of the band’s first ever live performance. Supported by a collection of five songs that captures what makes Fishbone special, Fishbone is worth all the hype and more.

Fishbone opens with the lead single, “All We Have Is Now”. The fun ska track first debuted earlier this year on Bottle Music For Broken People, a compilation from Bottles To The Ground and sees the band reveling in the present in traditional ska fashion. “All We Have Is Now” is an absolute blast and you can almost hear the smile growing across lead vocalist Angelo Moore’s face as he sings the simple, but meaningful, refrain. The following “I Don’t Care” leans closer to the punk side of ska, seeing the band employ a sinister harmonic progression during the chorus. Their use of darker tones and a more aggressive style contrasts nicely with the opening song, demonstrating an immediate sense of versatility on Fishbone’s latest EP.

The remaining three tracks on Fishbone soar forward, building upon the opening two songs. From the accenting horns of the upbeat “Cubicle”, Fishbone’s criticism of the conventional nine-to-five lifestyle, to the up-tempo bop of the album closer, “Wake Up My Child”, Fishbone is a strong collection of material. The emotional and creative centre of the record, however, comes from the band’s modern homage to Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”. To call “Estranged Fruit”, a collaborative track with NOFX, a cover feels like a disservice to the songwriting behind Fishbone, despite the track clearly being tied to Holiday’s 1939 release. “Estranged Fruit” is a modern adaption, taking aim at racism – and its intersection with classism – while expressing that, even nearly a century later, the African American experience is one still lacking respect, dignity, and equal citizenship. Musically, the song is brilliant, perhaps among the best you’ll hear all year, as the band goes from a ragtime shuffle, with a haunted vibe that creates an atmosphere unique to a New Orleans dive bar during Mardi Gras, before erupting into an abrasive, all-out rocker, with NOFX coming into the fold. Only Fishbone could deliver such a poignant song with such conviction along with an equal level of musical artistry.

Forty years deep into their career, Fishbone maintains its cult status while remaining vital with a unique collection of some of the most important alternative music you’ll hear today. While in many ways tamer than their most acclaimed records, Fishbone serves as a strong entry point to understanding the essence of the band for new listeners. In this sense, not only will their self-titled be on repeat, but it will push you to revisit their classic works while appreciating the sonic journey this band has chartered for four decades. With ska, funk, rock, and punk central to their sound, Fishbone continues to be in a league of their own with no other artist sounding quite like they do.

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