What makes a great album? A review of In the Wild by The Interrupters.

What makes a great album?

A review of In the Wild by The Interrupters

What makes a great album? Musicianship? Lyrics? Concept? Mastering and production? What creates seminal works? Is it something beyond the technical? Is it the way that it hits you? Is it the sum of these things? Is it something more?

For me a great album transcends simply being well made. Greatness leaves a mark on you and opens you up in ways you don’t expect. A great album offers an experience that starts the moment you hit play until the last track fades. A great album feels familiar but also takes you places and not always ones you expect to go.

I’ve heard countless albums. Many were produced masterfully but were not, in my opinion, truly great works. All the right parts were present but it just didn’t hit in the right way to really stick. For me a great album feels like a great book. The story, the message, the style of it somehow feels like a part of you that was discovered by someone else. You connect to it and the author. You find their blood seemingly dripped onto each page lovingly and you taste it. Once you do you become connected intimately to it.

In the Wild by The Interrupters is that kind of great album. The 4th offering from the fab foursome of ska hits in familiar ways but is clearly their best overall composition so far. This album manages to straddle the line between creative exploration and traditional appeal that creates a beautiful harmony. In sound, performance, concept, and execution, it lands. The music stays true to the band’s roots but stretches itself in new directions where possible. The artists making it are unafraid to evolve and it shows in the music.

The Bivona brothers and Aimee Interrupter make great tunes. That’s not a secret. One doesn’t catch the eye of Tim Armstrong without something special to offer. The Interrupters have that. I’ve listened with joy as their spark has grown into a fire. The Interrupters have managed to grow over time but have not strayed so far from their origins that they’ve lost themselves. Every band tries to do this but few succeed at, in my opinion.

Incredibly this album offers that. It’s both a great party album and a raw, real look into the soul of its makers. Musically it takes you beyond the traditional offerings of great ska/punk/reggae albums from this group to new places. This record feels as at home next to “Jagged Little Pill” and it does next to “Life Won’t Wait. That’s no easy feat to achieve.

Present are all the clever wit, playful turns of phrase, and fast deliveries that have made The Interrupters a great band. However, now there is a synergy present, a conceptual wheelhouse, and a fearlessness that ratchets the quality up to something greater.

The inclusion of something more deeply emotional and explorative is present in this work. I feel that this sets it apart from many of it's contemporaries. While In the Wild has ample tracks that have a good time feel and certainly make for great live experiences, it goes beyond that.

Unlike previous offerings there are new dimensions to enjoy in this album. Doo wop tracks, reggae influenced romps, and lyrically harmonious slow jams all have their moment. The mastery of ability is present on all levels. The smoothness of the band is, as always, beautifully underpinned by sultry, smoky, soulful lyrics from the current first lady of Ska.

Each song stands on its own but also feels like part of the larger album. Not once have I found myself skipping tracks on this album. It’s too good to do that. This album doesn’t stop when the road gets rough, it hits the gas.

Specifically songs like Anywhere but Here and Raised by Wolves are tracks that bare their soul to you. In the former we’re treated to a heartbreakingly relatable story about being forced to grow up too soon and struggling against bitterness. In the later we are treated to a look back to the same with fresh eyes and a fresh heart. There's a poetic justice to it that cannot be ignored.

The Hard Way and Worst for Me are anthems about resolve, about not taking oneself too seriously. Songs about hitting one's head, about stumbling, about getting back up again, about continuing to try. Brutal honesty and sincerity that reach into you and teach you to be a better you by way of musical wisdom.

Ska/Reggae anthems like Kiss the Ground and As We Live are tracks that are evocative of the band's classic energy. These tracks offer the loving devotion that the band has to its forebears and musical roots. As We Live in particular slaps in all that right ways that it's sure to be pumping at dance halls near and fear soon enough.

When you put all these things together you get an album that is greater than the sum of its parts. When you offer a glimpse into the mind of the players that is real and fresh, it sticks. This album sticks.

At least that’s how I feel about it. Everyone’s entitled to their own feelings but in my mind In the Wild is damned near perfect. I challenge you to give it a try. If you don’t feel what I feel there’s no shame in it. Ideally you will feel as transported as I do every time I hit play on this one cause it’s fucking good. You be the judge…