THE SELECTER
Celebrate the Bullet
[Chrysalis CHR 1306]

What can you make of packed crowds of angry British youth dancing in delight to a black and white ska band singing "Warning, warning, nuclear attack!"? What is this "happy music" about World War Ill, unemployment, racial oppression and youth with no future?

Of course, we've all been told time and time again that "serious music" dealing with the hard realities of life can't be entertainment, and that music which makes you feel good (especially dance music) can only be escapist. But saying it doesn't make it so! As Dave Wakeling, guitarist for The (English) Beat explains, the new ska music "said what a terrible world this was - with a smile on its face."

From Jamaica in the mid-'60s, this highly syncopated, lively precursor of reggae was immensely popular in Britain; it was instantly recognizable for its 4/4 shuffle beat, drums and jazz-influenced horns up front, harmonies by way of '50s Rhythm & Blues and more hooks than you could count. Except for Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop", ska never caught on in the U.S. But today in Britain it's a tremendous influence especially in the racially mixed working class neighborhoods where it sprang up in the wake of the punk/new wave explosion. Selecter guitarist Compton Amanor describes it as "a common ground for a fusion between punk and reggae" and the best of the groups associated with ska (The (English) Beat, UB40, the Specials, The Selecter, etc.) stir it up with just about every musical style you can imagine - punk, reggae, rock, pop and soul. This new faster-paced ska has even given birth to a style and attitude named after 2-Tone, the independent record company which first promoted some of the new bands, in which mixed groups of Anglo and foreign born represent, as Selecter vocalist Pauline Black said, "the bringing together of contradictions and opposites - black and white, men and women, whatever."

The Selecter's first album, Too Much Pressure, practically defined the new smartass ska - catchy little organ riffs spun out over mocking guitar licks led by a bass/drum advance guard kicking everything out of its path; while angry vocals asked "How long shall the wicked reign over the people?", laughing uproariously as they spit in the face of the high and mighty.

If Pressure broke musical ground like a roving rebel band, Celebrate the Bullet is a disciplined people's army occupying new territory. It ups the ante, throws out the ground rules and eloquently answers criticisms that the new music was too simplistic and derivative of '60s ska. Production is sharper, the sound richer and fuller, the lyrics more intensely sung. Bass and drums are still up front but less nervous, the organ still pumps away as rhythm or swells out to take the lead, but guitar stabs and stings draw more blood. Background vocals, overdubs and echoes provide a denser mix surrounding the lead singers. There's even some tasty trombone and synthesizer.

The attitude of "They Make Me Mad" on the first album has become more pronounced as "Red Reflections" on the new one. Asked about the color red in that song and on the back album cover, Black explained, "We are quite an angry band. I feel all we're doing is reflecting what's going on in society anyway. I certainly don't think the public are stupid. And people are going to be thrown into a situation where they've got to start looking at problems. To me that's what you've got to reflect, otherwise it would be like us joining the middle-of-the-road thing."

When targeting the powerful, The Selecter shows no mercy; but even the harshest criticisms to fellow underdogs sound like a heartfelt musical appeal to your best friend. On Celebrate they lash out at a friend's refusal to deal with other people's troubles ("You still don't care if it doesn't reach you" in "Who Likes Facing Situations"), things that tear people apart and get them fighting each other ("Tell Me What's Wrong"), the draft and military recruitment ("You already sold your head for a dark green helmet yesterday" in "Selling Out Your Future"), and those in power who glorify war and send others to fight it ("Celebrate the bullet/Put your finger on the trigger/But you don't have to pull it/'Cause you know it won't bring them back to you, back to you").

One musical asset The Selecter has that the other groups don't is singer/songwriter Pauline Black, the "rude girl" personified. On Pressure she declared "I'm getting off my knees/l'm gonna teach myself a new philosophy." Breaking with the shout-and strain posturing dear to post-punk tradition, Black uses her powerful (but not big), flexible voice as a means of soulful expression, from a whisper to a scream, while never lapsing into sound for sound's sake just to show off.

Black wrote "Bristol and Miami" inspired by the black uprisings in those British and U.S. cities. ("I thought everyone's going to forget it. And I don't want to forget it," she said.) While the words speak grimly - "stand on the corner/feeling pain inside/water into vinegar and never changes to wine"- the music sounds positively triumphant: a synthesizer pierces through an infectious bass/drum hook while Black's voice soars like someone high on the taste of freedom. There's nothing beaten down or crushed in this music. "Then Bristol (Miami) caught fire/Started burning in the air/Everybody listened to the reggae jukebox singers/Sing on, sing on/Listen to the echo on the street/Listen to the echo of the street."

In this world where the wicked still reign and "people can only take so much" ("Bristol and Miami"), the new ska music gives us reason to celebrate. This is one beat I hope will go on and on and on . . .

-Miller Francis, Jr.