The Happy Album

The Selecter are still a ska band, but at this point other influences are being allowed into the mix as well, with mostly pleasing results. "Reselecterization" opens the album with an explicitly hip-hop-derived instrumental flourish, but the band soon settles into a ska groove that is far from the old school on its shiny surfaces but still deeply rooted in Jamaican verities. The best juxtaposition of old and new comes on a cover version of the old Toots Hibbert song "Sweet and Dandy," on which slick production is counterbalanced by a greasy trombone (courtesy of Rico Rodriguez!) and Pauline Black's husky vocals. A few songs, including the lackluster "Neurotica" and "California Screaming," are not strong enough on their own to support the weight of all that studio frippery, but "I Want Justice" and "Mother Knows Best" (with its faux orchestral strings and church bells) both manage to draw strength from the added bells and whistles. The final result is an album that will alienate some fans while, perhaps, attracting some new ones as well. Recommended.