The Mighty Mighty Bosstones: Let's Face It

Years ago, before their recording careers were derailed by a near-fatal foray into lumbering metal, the members of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones put together some of the most exhilarating ska-core music in the world. But the band's most recent album, Question The Answers, seemed to discard everything that ever made the Bosstones' music enjoyable: The jumpy horns were relegated to the back of the mix, while the songs themselves rarely strayed from the group's inexplicable new hard-rock identity. Which makes the brand-new Let's Face It seem more fresh and exhilarating than it probably is: Fans will be thrilled to learn that the Bosstones have become a ska band again—of course, now that it's commercially acceptable to do so—and returned horns to the front of a newly stripped-down mix. The changes are more expansive than that: Dicky Barrett sings as much as he growls here, while tracks like "Royal Oil" are so thinly arranged, they sound like there are instruments missing. But for every misfire like the preachy title track, there's an infectious anthem that begs to be blared from every window in the city. Play "The Rascal Song" or "The Impression That I Get" as loud as you can get away with, and ask yourself if the Bosstones aren't back.