Potshot

Item: Rock'n'roll
Author: Tom Bastian

Rock'n'roll

(1998)

Reviewed by Tom Bastian

Discogs Bandcamp Apple Music

Label Asian Man RecordsDecapolis1999

punk ska punk

It's all about the Japanese ska. Yes, that's right, Japanese ska. Potshot is your basic ska/punk band, but they are from Tokyo, Japan. From what I hear, ska, as well as punk rock, is the big rage over in Japan, at least within the certain indie scene over there. They sing in English, but without the lyrics I would not have a clue as to what they were singing. Even with the lyrics, I still caught myself thinking, "Is that really what they are saying?" Basically, what I'm getting at is that their Japanese accent is really prevalent. This kind of adds a certain uniqueness to their sound, and helps them to stand apart a bit from all the other ska/punk bands around now.

This is a fun album that is full of energy, one that you may find yourself dancing around to even if that's not your thing. The brass is definitely present, the guitars are loud, the drums are quick, and the tempo is upbeat. Potshot often jumps back and forth between the upbeat ska guitar and the power chord punk rock guitar quite a few times within each song. Not really mixing the punk and ska, but just jumping back and forth, similar to how the Suicide Machines and Squad Five-O switch up the punk and ska. But I guess the main difference between Potshot and those bands is the fact that they use a lot of horns, and they are from Japan.

I don't know if this is a CD that I could listen to over and over again, but it's fun, produced well, has a lot of energy, and is something a bit different for a ska/punk band. I would like to check this band out live, because they could surprise me like another Japanese ska band called Kemuri, whose CD I was not that impressed with either, but who I really dug when I saw them in concert during the Ska Against Racism tour. So I have a good feeling that Potshot would be pretty cool live as well.

C+