Got the CD this morning and I haven’t stopped listening to it. Top class, I disagree entirely with the reviewer here when he says ‘any genuinely good backing would distract from the fact that this is comedy first and foremost’. If you dont mind me asking Daryl which tracks have the not ‘genuinely good backing’ The one thing about the Bandits is that the backing tracks are always top notch and generally mine a wider array of musical territory than any band around at the moment. I honestly wonder if the reviewer gave this more than a cursory spin I definitely expect more from state, seriously it reads like a school boy essay, Plus I assume when he writes ‘weary of duo’s potential’ he actually means ‘wary’, a typo is a typo but this one changes the meaning of the sentence Apologies for the bitching but I was looking forward to this review. 

To Colm: I’m afraid typo’s are typo’s, although that one seems to have been changed so I guess someone in charge saw your comment or realised the mistake. You obviously enjoy the backing music which is fair enough, it is enjoyable but I wouldn’t say it’s impressive as music in any way. If any serious artist released that music it would get slated but this was given 4 out of 5 because in the context of the bandits’ humour it works really well. If you hear a song of theirs being played by a DJ or anyone else then they are doing so because of it’s comedy value not it’s musical value. 

To colmahhh: We felt it unnecessary to do any in depth dismantling of the songs seeing as everyone’s heard nearly all of them a million times before we get anywhere near them. This was a look at the success of their career so far and how the album plays into that. Still, the State elders do not tolerate vagueness and I’m sure that my back will be subject to the most vicious of ceremonial whippings by dawn.

The last line of the review is a cracker. Must get my hands on the album soon.

See the thing is Daryl the backing music is impressive in lots of ways. From the genuine old school hip hop sound [who in main stream hip hop nowadays is going back to 1992 to mine the sounds of Public Enemy, not many but Bandits are clearly very serious about this] of Willie O Dea, Pure Awkward, Antney’s Eye, Greyhound Shuffle…to the beautiful chord progressions and clever hooks of some of the [relatively] newer tunes such as Horse Outside, Spoiling Ivan, Rosin Ba Mhaith Liom, and Blackman plus flawless playing and production [90% of which is done by the band themselves]. And then you have the electro pop of Spastic Hawk with Blindboy’s soaring guitar solo at the end and the prodigy influenced Diouble Dropping Yokes with Eamon De Valera. The reason DJ s play the Bandits in the clubs is because the tunes are banging end of. Where you say ‘ If any serious artist released that music it would get slated’ [even though I believe you said this in anger over my review of your review...welcome to the land of constructive criticism Daryl]  Well in reply I say to you that if any reviewer who had a serious background in the art of songwriting and production wouldn’t dream of slating their work because they d have an idea of what is involved.