Suicide Machines

Looks like the Suicide Machines aren’t too good for ska after all. After releasing a completely skank-less album whose lead-off single was an ode to the singer’s dog, the Suicide Machines have come back to their senses on this, their first album for Side One Dummy. Besides bringing back a few more upstrokes to their blend of pop, punk, and hardcore, A Match and Some Gasoline demonstrates a serious lyrical turnaround for the band. Somewhat reminiscent of Goldfinger’s Open Your Eyes album, on which singer John Feldman explored his newfound interest in veganism and animal rights, it seems that singer Jason Navarro is delving into his feelings on the U.S.-led war in Iraq. While not consistently dealing with the issue of the recent war in an explicit manner, Navarro examines the shortfalls of American bureaucracy from numerous angles. Musically, A Match is substantially more hardcore than much of the band’s past material. While still featuring such poppy ska numbers as "Split the Time,” there exist more tracks in the vein of the fast and furious "Keep It a Crime.” The Suicide Machines are seeking to explore some extremely important issues in contemporary American society, but they do so with their knees raised and arms flailing, smiling all the while.