Girls and Weather
Fall Out Records
3 out of 5

To call the Rumble Strips a ska band is a tad misleading. They do have a Madness-worthy horn section that gets employed on a quite a few tracks, but reading early press coverage about the band, you’d think they were the second coming of the Specials in matching checkerboard suits, skinny ties and dark shades. Despite the need of many rock journalists to quickly slap a two-tone label on the band, the brass section is hardly the centerpiece of the Rumble Strips. Girls and Weather, their first full-length, actually draws stronger influences from the typical classic Brit pop bands, borrowing from groups like the Kinks, the Jam and Blur. Don’t expect any life-changing political anthems on Girls and Weather, as the Rumble Strips tend to traffic more in catchy songs about daydreaming and crushes.

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