album of the week - 8.4

Rx Bandits

Mandala

Sargent House (2009)

why you'll love it - unique blend of reggae and prog

why you'll hate it - long time fans will miss the horns

Did you feel as burned by the latest Mars Volta release as I had? Rx Bandits for the save! Their unique blend of reggae and prog rock can make you dance to the sweet melodies and drop your jaw with epic guitar shredding, sometimes in the same song. Heck, there is even a song sung in Español!

But wait, there's more! RxB is one of those bands that love their fans. On the first week of release, they had priced the Amazon digital download verion of the album for $2.99. Meanwhile on their website they were offering it up for $10 with a free copy of their 2006 (album of the year) record, "...And The Battle Begun"! [/billymays]

That is actually one of the reasons I love this band so much. Rx Bandits may be a bunch of stereotypical SoCal hippies, but they honestly do have a lot of love in their hearts. Not just for the music they create and are inspired by, but for their fans as well. And then there is that abundance of talent as well. They haven't written a single bad song in over a decade. They do very little overdubbing / lots of free jamming in their albums. And you'll never see the same show twice when they tour. Their evolution from typical goofy high-school ska band to what they are today has been wonderful to grow alongside as my own musical tastes have changed. Surely they are of of my favorite bands ever.

That being said, while this album is nearly flawless, there is a piece of Rx Bandits soul missing from it - the horn section. I won't argue that the horns are the heart of the band, especially since they've been pushed into the background over the last 3 albums; but they certainly were an ace up their sleeve. A long time fan can tell on this album they've tried to replace where you'd normally find a clever horn line. Sometimes they do this with a wall of guitars ("Hearts That Hanker For Mistake"), soothing violins ("White Lies"), or a lackluster harmony of "doo doo dooo"s ("March of The Caterpillar").

I can't hold it against the band for losing their horn section and being unable to replace them (kinda hard when you are an indie band in a niche genre), but the songs on this album are still amazing, and they are being forced to experiment in finding more ways to create melodies. Perhaps this is a good thing. This thought is further backed by the observation that the weakest song on the album, "Bury it Down Low" is the only song on the album that features horns, though Matt's vague hippie lyrics are the glaring flaw.

Because of the hole the departed horn section has left, this album loses a bit of what makes RxB very special. I think ...And The Battle Begun is the band's shining moment. I can't take away credit for what they have achieved here without the horns, though. This is a true labor of love, as is all of their recent albums. One last thing I love about this album is how it brings back the outro. The last two minutes of many of these songs range from beautiful to beautifully epic. It doesn't feel drawn out, like this review, it feels right. This is one of the best albums you'll hear all year.