The Skints: Bristol Sounds

The Skints and Gentleman’s Dub Club often seem to be found touring together and tonight is no exception. Taking in the summer vibe of the Bristol Harbourside, they come straight out with their ska/ reggae sounds which seems to fit the laid back mood of a Sunday evening. They are fronted by Marcia Richards mostly taking lead vocal duties and playing, well pretty much any instruments you could think of. I spotted at least, keys, sax, guitar, flute and melodeon, certainly a talented and versatile musician.

Despite being a London based band, they in fact feel very ‘Bristol’ with the St Pauls Carnival being held not far from here with it’s sound system culture. They even note this themselves during ‘This Town’ They have the reggae sound perfected, in fact at times maybe a bit too much, I liked it when they swapped things up a bit and gave us a bit of ska punk too. Love the reggae, but would love it more to hear some more of that side too.

They do keep the political side of ska alive too with songs ‘The Cost of Living is Killing Me’ for example includes the lyrics “In this free country, Where nothing is free” having a bit of a Specials feel to it. I do get my wish for a bit more ska with ‘Lay You Down’ nearer the end of the setlist. Yet they did perfectly suit the day, being very reggae based, so my wish may not have been universally wanted anyway.