ALBUM REVIEW: Buster Shuffle – Together (Do Nothing Records)
London ska-punks Buster Shuffle are back with their sixth studio album, and it doesn’t stray far from their tried and tested formula.
The four-piece specialise in catchy sing-alongs guaranteed to get a crowd on their feet, and if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
The ethos behind the whole album – released on the band’s own label – is talking openly, being supportive and coming together. And, in true Shuffle style, it’s basically a right old knees-up.
Like their previous release, 2022’s Go Steady, it’s a feelgood album drawn from the same musical storytelling well as legendary bands like Madness and Ian Dury and the Blockheads.
The Nutty Boys comparison is obvious but inevitable on bouncy opener Shows How Little You Know, and the same goes for Masterplan, an upbeat, hopeful song about wanting to “make some money and move to sunny old Spain”. There’s also a little nod to the Ramones with the wistful refrain ‘hey ho, let’s go’.
Jet, Tez, Billy and Tom seem like a bunch of diamond geezers and they sound quintessentially British, thanks mainly to the Chas & Dave bar-room piano, with a few big ‘whoa-ohs’ borrowed from US bands.
One of them kick-starts and is reused throughout Take A Pill, after Jet and the boys managed to get a 2,000-strong crowd to sing the hook line for the song, which is about helping each other through rough times.
There’s bundles of energy in the 11 tracks here, and there’s a hint of Blur about Waiting For You, so full of cheeky-chappy bluster that it could be a Parklife outtake.
Title track Together conveys the album’s over-riding message, of taking time out to be with those you love, while the rocky I Don’t Mind What I See recalls good times with mates while flying the flag for the ska scene which some say is dying, “but I beg to disagree”.
Knocking At 112 harks back to childhood memories of calling on a friend to see if they’re coming out to play. “I don’t want this day to end, because you’re my best friend.”
By contrast, If I Were Wise addresses the downsides of growing up and moving into adulthood, namely “first world problems banging in my head, strain and tension and the government says”.
There’s another slower, more reflective track in One In Ten, about struggling to cope with life as a whole -“playing snooker without a cue ball” – but recognising you need to talk to someone about it.
The upbeat messaging is back with Thanks, which shows gratitude for friendship, kindness and tolerance, and things end with View For Your Fool, an ode to the joys of parenthood, with Jet singing: “It is you that has changed my life, even more than having a wife.” Lovely stuff.
The Shuffle Army will surely approve, and will get the chance to come Together at four special album launch shows in Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, Berlin and London. 8/10.
- Together is available now on Do Nothing Records on CD, limited edition 2CD, vinyl, cassette and digital.
