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Although many reflect on the current times as owning elements of bleakness and dysfunction, The Swashbuckling Doctors have eight years of musical time under their belts to help anyone disassociate from reality with their unearthly, anecdotal ska tunes.
The western band preaches spirited ridiculousness and positivity on their website, self-describing their sound as “their unique take on ska punk jazz be-bop beat poetry.” With a strong resume of three albums that have propelled them up and down the I-25 corridor with a goal to inspire laughter and marathon runners. The lighthearted gaggle of musicians has announced the arrival of their fourth album: Rage of Enlightenment.
With an obvious multi-genre influence and experimental sound, the vibe of the album remains strikingly unconventional and therefore entirely hard to put a finger on. The only way I can pinpoint this thunderous collection of varying songs is is by imagining that the bands Modest Mouse and Cake joined together into one divine group of momentous, jazzy dads, going through a prog-rock polka phase. Additionally, these dads, with the help of a stray mom, took illicit substances to make themselves as enthusiastic as possible, centered on Billie Joe Armstrong’s vowel pronunciation and all the while decided to manifest a soundtrack to a quirky punk play, only the punk play is located in space. The Swashbuckling Doctors unquestionably centered colorful disarray, the galactic and the acutely theatrical.
The album is a hefty eleven songs long. The most momentous tracks on the album are Officer Jenny, The Jolly Russian, and Big Bang Hole. The ode to Officer Jenny is romantic and playful, with lyrics that will easily get caught in your brain, such as, “What will it take for you to arrest me, Officer Jenny? Your light is shining where I’m hiding, you found me! How many stars are next to my name, Officer Jenny?” The Jolly Russian utilizes overlaid voices and holistic sound to elicit feelings of pirate endeavors, and Big Bang Hole sprinkles in elements of sassy 80s defiance. The whimsical annectodal style of the songs, backed by rowdy production cultivated by a smorgasbord of instruments, brings characters and events to life.
With relentlessly upbeat silliness, this album will not serve you if you are looking to wallow or participate in easy listening and contemplate deep thoughts. The album is simple in its fundamental goal of eliciting silly escapism and could easily be perceived as overstimulating and naive if one is not open minded to the seemingly ironic yet somehow un-ironic dialogue, unforgiving rock-ska and disco underpinnings. And if you are a holiday enthusiast, absolutely don’t listen to the angsty heartbreak of Happy Birthday.
Overall the album is cohesive, enticing, and un-ignorable. The Swashbuckling Doctors are doing their own thing whether you like it or not, but it seems like they would rather you did and dance while doing it.
Tracks for Rage of Enlightenment can currently be streamed from Spotify alongside their three completely original albums Kraken EP, Side Effects May Include… and Rescue the Universe. Their upcoming Colorado shows will occur on December 8th, at Hodi’s Halfnote in Fort Collins, and again on December 15th at the Seventh Circle venue in Denver. Tickets can be purchased on the bands website or through their Facebook page via ticketfly.com.
