Criminal Tango - Sztuka Jest Sztuka

Bad Look Records

 

Formed in 2010, Polish outfit Criminal Tango already has three full-length albums in their back-pockets. Not exactly your new kid on the block, yet I never heard of these guys before. Not that this says much, if anything at all, but this time around it’s probably not because I wasn’t paying attention, but simply because this really isn’t the style of music I prefer as I found out listening to their latest mini-CD “Sztuka Jest Sztuka” for Bad Look Records.

 

So what is this style of music exactly? Blending punk, rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, ska and what not into their sound, Criminal Tango sounds somewhat of a mix between The Kings Of Nuthin’, The Bones, Mano Negra and The Clash - though 80% (at least on this release) of their songs are in Polish.

 

Now these aren’t exactly the worst bands to be reminded of and - let me get this straight - Criminal Tango isn’t a bad band and they definitely sound like they’re having fun with that horn-section, I just never would put this on voluntarily. With that being said, I did enjoy this release, especially the ska-ish “Plac Zbawiciela” and the four-minute long “Aleja Cieni” - which somewhat reminded me of later Horrorshow for no apparent reason - are pretty good.

 

A weird release to be reviewed on this page, but I like what Bad Look Records is doing - so I gave it a go. If you like any, though preferably a combination, of the bands in the second paragraph and you don’t mind that four out of five songs are in Polish you might want to give this CD a go, otherwise you can move on - this is not an Oi! record.