Product Description

Random Acts of Spank by Big Spank

Review

On CD as live, THE BIG SPANK offer up a tantalizing mishmash of funk, metal, jam rock, thrash, reggae and other musical styles, all packaged neatly in a box labeled, Ska.

The sextet's 2004 release, “Random Acts of Spank”, even gives a passing nod to death metal (“Gringo”) and Afro-Cuban rhythms (“Mike Go-Go”).

A mostly laid-back, sipping-umbrella-drinks-in-a-hammock-on-the-beach record, THE BIG SPANK's creation reveals a slightly less frantic outfit than they're often known to be onstage. It also reveals a group of musicians deliciously in the pocket and primed to groove. –Weekly Alibi

THE BIG SPANK has been justifiably categorized as a ska band, but its 2004 recording, “Random Acts Of Spank” (Redhand Records) begs for a more precise definition. Ultimately, the group (most members hail from Albuquerque's South Valley) is the best example of a barrio band. The fact that it injects a healthy dose of ska, reggae, punk and metal into its formula makes for a unique and enthralling live experience.

Long overdue, “Random Acts” also finds the usually potty-mouthed vocalist Mike G growing up and learning the hard lessons of love (both found and lost). Most of the nine self-produced songs deal with painful breakups, while just a few (“Play With Yours” and the record's hidden track), fall back on the group's old habits of making inside sexual jokes out of anything and everything.

Ska still plays a big part in the group's music but it's the band's ability to mesh its myriad influences (bonus points for the accordion/trumpet interplay (“Never Again”) into one unique package that sets it apart from many modern-day ska groups.

But no matter the quality of recorded output this group releases in the future, its live show will always reign superior. This doesn't mean it needs to wait another four years to record again, just that fans of bandas de los barrios understand that with THE BIG SPANK, in the flesh is better than in the stereo. –Albuquerque Journal