Axis of Evil!
Let 'Em Drop!

What do say about a band that takes its name from the Bushism title of the three most EVIL countries on Earth?

Well, you say they're damn good, basically. Axis of Evil has always been one of my favorite bands to see live for multiple reasons; first off, Zach is the man and never fails to get the audience up and moving, and the horn section is absolutely incredible. This is not to, of course, discount the rest of the band; the guitar and drums are tight, and I grudgingly admit that my arch-nemesis Jeff Palumbo is quite the bass player. But I digress.

I've been waiting for this E.P. for quite a long time, and every time I asked Zach about it, it was always "Soon! It'll come out soon!" A year later, Zach IMed me and dropped me a copy of the five track release entitled "Let 'Em Drop!" When I looked at the track list, I was simultaneous overwhelmed with joy and sadness, as most of my favorite tracks made the cut, but, sadly, Living With Saddam, Punktual Joe, and the CT favorite, Don't Tip The Van were excluded. That has absolutely no bearing on the ridiculously high quality of this offering from our brothers to the north (MA), however.

The album opens with B.L.S., which is a great choice; very high energy, has an amazing horn line, and really showcases Zach's upper range (and lower, as occasionally you can hear that he's doubling the higher vocals an octave below, which is a very cool, very filling effect). The recording quality is pristine, although it's hard to hear the lower ranges of some of the horns. Besides that one qualm, it's an excellent opener. Next up is Four Car Garage Band; the best way to describe it is an event that happened at a show at Toquet Hall back in June 2005, where Tony from Stealing From Peter ran up to me and virtually screamed, "Dude! Did you know they have a song with lyrics "She left me for a FOUR CAR GARAGE BAND? THAT'S AWESOME!". The lyrics are indeed awesome, and while the horn lines lean towards simplicity, they do the song a great deal of justice. The little horn pops are great, and the solos are all really well performed and written. This is immediately followed by Skankin' Richard, which is easily one of the best sing-a-long songs ever. It's easy, it's fun, and it's a blast live; plus, it's about Skankin' Richard, and if you ask me, it really does the man justice.

Take a short break. Intermission! Time to get funky!

Okay, now that we've had that, on to the next song, Gripping My Gun, which is definitely my favorite song on the album. It breaks from the ska/punk roots of Axis and shows that they can pull off multiple styles, and especially traditional. The vocals are great, the horns are great, the rhythm's great, and most importantly, it just grooves. It locks really well, and you can tell that Axis is having a blast doing their thang. The album closes with Picket Fences, which is a great closer. The only qualm I have with it is since Zach's voice is mainly in the bass range, it's kind of hard to hear against the horns / guitar. Besides that, it's a solid track.

In my opinion, this is one of the best releases I've heard all year (both local and national), and it definitely continues the trend of great albums to come out of the CT/ MA Ska community this year.

Check out Axis of Evil! at their website or at Northeast Ska.

Reviewed By:  Todd Springer

Date:  Sat 2 Sep 06

Score:  10.0

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