Review Summary: Overall, this album is very good. It manages to blend together Punk, Ska, and Pop-punk into one entertaining package.
Big D and the Kids Table always seem to be scraping by. A Seven-piece third wave ska band from Boston, they've always managed to pack shows, draw fans, and sell merchandise. And yet, they never seem to have any money.
With this album, Big D goes in a slightly different direction than their previous full length, Good Luck, but still manages to maintain all of what attracts fans to them. Gone are the dual vocals of Marc Flynn swapping rap-like verses in and out of lead singer Daves voice, but there are many tracks that feature the beautiful voice of Mariam Marz, including
The Sounds of Allston Village,
Safe Haven, and
Girls Against Drunk Bitches. Singer David McWanes voice has evened out somewhat, it is still quite cutting, and turns many people away from this band.
If you can handle Stza Crack, I don't think you're in for too much of a problem with the vocals.
The most popular song on this album, and by far the fan-favorite is
LAX. The song goes more for a pop-punk with horns feel, and is gimmicked up with redundant swearing. It is an excellent song, but I feel does not show this bands true potential as musicians and song writers.
Another fan-favorite on the album is the bouncy ska tune
You Lost, You're Crazy. With it's interesting lyrics about a rumor spreading and it's fun back-up vocals interjected throughout the entire song, it makes this track a real fun one to listen to.
The albums heavier moments include songs
Girls Against Drunk Bitches and
Flashlight. Both work well, but people looking for straight ska may want to veer away from these two. Conversely to these, the lightest tone this album takes is the beautiful
Safe Haven. It's very relaxing and really shows the diversity of this band.
Overall, this album is very good. It manages to blend together Punk, Ska, and Pop-punk into one entertaining package. How It Goes always has something new up it's sleeve, whether it be a instrumental such as
The Sounds of Allston Village and the title track
How It Goes, a more rock with horns type feel like
Moment Without An End, or a song that's just plain.... fun. It even features a well done cover of
The Specials Little Bitch.
Recommended Songs:
You Lost, You're Crazy
Cutshow
You're Me Now
