Ska Rapples - Drop Dead Beautiful

Hear The Track Here

I'm surprised to see this is only the second Ska Rapples track I've reviewed, seems like so many more. Either that or the Canadian musician known to all and sundry as Road Apples has been appearing before my eyes a lot more lately. Mind you, I have reviewed him in a plethora of disguises before (Cry Of Hounds, Sad Hill Cemetery etc) so maybe that's it. Wind Divine (February 2010) was my first brush with the Ska Rapples identity and it were bloody great, a wonderful mix of reggae and ska and pop that got a well deserved must have from me. Given its composition though, all the main food groups as it were, it's a dead cert someone like me would love it. My immediate impression of Drop Dead Beautiful wasn't so positive.

There again, being a persistent bastard pays off, and the more I listened to this track, the more I became used to its raw, wide open rock sound and that - I suspect - is why I was wrong-footed in the initial plays. After the glory of Wind Divine, I think I was expecting more of the same, and this track is rock through and through, despite its Indie listing. Actually, thinking about it more, this is the kind of music I expect from Road Apples and I guess Wind Divine was the odd man out. Whichever way it works, it's OK by me. Road Apples has proved time and time again that he is a musician to be taken seriously.

Professionalism will out in this game and it shines out of this track like a beacon; from the painstaking attention to sonic detail (the ultra wide guitars, subtle stabs of blue sound) to the technical polishing needed to bring out the very best in this track. So? Does it work? I should coco although as I say, be best to give it a few plays for it to work its magic on you and it would help if you like rock with a classic bent. If you doubt the veracity of that, this track has four comments so far. The commenters are extremely well known guitarists in their own right and all of them are unstinting in their praise - as they should be.

High class Classic Rock. Highly Recommended.