Liam O’Kane – “Happy Days Sad Songs”
Album Reviews | Mar 6th, 2009
Record Label: Do the Dog
Genre: Acoustic Ska
Band Link: link
Do the Dog Records are all about the side projects these days. Liam O’Kane is the vocalist and guitarist of Jimmy the Squirrel, another ska band on the label’s roster. Happy Days Sad Songs is Liam’s debut acoustic solo album and it’s pretty cool.
There’s 12 tracks total on the CD, and surprisingly; not every song is a ska song. Liam mixes acoustic rock, reggae, ska and island music. Chris Murray will probably come to people’s mind when listening to this but Chris has a different sound. Liam has that raw sound, but not as raw/hi-fi as Chris Murray records his music. I think the album gets stronger as it progresses, because I dug the later half a lot more than the first half. Songs like “Rude Boy Stop There,” “Last Train,” and “Politeness is Free” stood out on the album. It’s also interesting to me to see how musicians break away from their normal bands and do something different. If you like acoustic reggae & ska music, you’ll like Liam O’Kane’s debut solo album! For fans of Robb Blake, King Django and Chris Murray.
Bottom Line: Excellent acoustic solo album from the vocalist of Jimmy the Squirrel
Notable Tracks: Happy Days Sad Songs, Taxi Man, Rude Boy Stop There
Overall Rating:
