The rumors are true...no longer can you call Rx Bandits a "ska" band. After 2006's ...And The Battle Begun, a personal favorite, the band parted with their horn section, focusing more on their progressive rock styling as a quartet.
No matter how you take your Rx Bandits, there is no arguing with the fact that their newest release, Mandala, is a fantastic album. Chocked full of tunes settling somewhere between a jam-oriented Sublime ("March of the Caterpillar) and a mellowed out Mars Volta ("Mientras La Veo Soñar"), Matt Embree's soul-infused voice spirits every song and Christopher Tsagakis is quickly becoming one of my favorite drummers. There is something intrinsically serpentine about the record. Could be surging bass lines, windy riffs, or just that wiggly nonsense your whole body gets when vibing to the record.
Standouts include "Hope Is A Butterfly, No Net Its Captor…(The Virus Of Silence)", a track with as many time signature changes as America has pissed off health insurance companies. "Bury It Down Low" offers a slight dose of familiar horns for fans of the band's older work. Yet, jam sessions like at the end of synthy "It's Only Another Parsec…" and heavy "Breakfast Cat" make you forget all about those brass instruments.
Like the late great Bob Marley might've said: no horns, no cry...or something like that. Get it!
Buy Mandala
Rx Bandits on Myspace
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