I do believe this is a first in Punk Rock circles… what they're currently hailing as "Pirate-Core," California's Mad Caddies storm the high seas with their latest opus "Rock The Plank," which follows up last year's "The Holiday Has Been Cancelled" EP and their last "Duck And Cover" full length from back in '98 while they were still known as… "Soft-Core."

Built on restless touring principles and a never-ending road show, this seven-member crew imports several musical elements into a backdrop of melodic Punk and easy listening Ska.

Subjectively, the tunes are of a mature nature led by the soothing sometimes outstretched clean vocals of Chuck Robertson who during the particularly rancorous moments-"Shaving Your Life," "Mary Melody," "Bridges…" comes off as a raspy old schooler while on the lighter scale-B-Side, "Days Away," and "We'll Start to Worry When the Cynics Start Believing," shines like a true illumination from the usual glut of bloody murder screaming.

Mad Caddies are built strongly on melodies and catchy rhythms while blending a broad mix of styles that quickly side step expectation where first they'll cut into a fired up frenzy that recalls the glory days of The Clash then just as quickly make a quick turn to the starboard side and do a little Ska and Reggae with the brass ensemble pumping as the soft island beats waft through… "Weird Beard" is the only traditionally "pirate" tune that I can make out here and as such it's pretty true to form-Robertson tinkers a bit with the voice in taking the lead role while the rest of the crew carry on seemingly passing the jug to one another as they reinterpret what typically occurred during those sometimes "rough" nights on the high seas!

Running Wild would be proud. First timers might want to use the likes of Mighty Mighty Bosstones, NOFX, or even The Offspring as a starting reference here but then the further along you take it, you realize it's hard to pin down "Rock The Plank" as sounding typical of anything else.

Released by Fat Wreck Chords

Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]
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