Album Review: The Skeats – The Skeats IV

“To find a better place and time, to gain a different frame of mind.”

The Skeats – The Skeats IV
December 2nd, 2023
Hard Rock / Alternative Rock / Punk Rock
Independently Released
St. John’s, Newfoundland

St. John’s hard rock power trio The Skeats are back with their fourth full length album in as many years, and, unsurprisingly, they’ve released yet another banger of catchy, well written tunes that will no doubt get stuck in your earholes and refuse to leave for days afterwards. Having reviewed the band’s past three full length records I’m well acquainted with their style of music, and it’s been an interesting journey watching these guys mature as songwriters while also maintaining a surprising level of consistency throughout their discography.

This album is, to some degree, not quite as heavy as the band’s previous record, Dead Before Dawn, which made overtures to classic heavy metal moreso than the punk-orientation of their first two releases, In the Meantime and Bulletproof… by Midnight. Still the sounds here, while certainly accessible and decidedly “easy listening” for someone who might be more into pure metal or pure punk, pack a punch and provide a sensible amount of variety for listeners all across the spectrum of the modern rock landscape.

A song like “Torch”, which was released ahead of the album, has a Billy Talent vibe to it, a band that each of the three members have pointed to as an influence before. The following track, “Daze”, is a bit softer, and feels like it hearkens back to the world of 90’s radio rock, whereas “Black Sensations” has a shit-kicking metal n’ punk attitude that reminds me of a band like Kvelertak or Priestess at points (minus the blackened vocal stylings of the former).

This album easily has the best vocal performances from both James Keats and Joshua Organ yet. James, who is the band’s lead singer, has only gotten better at singing with age. I love the moments where his vocals are layered, both over his own as well as over Organ’s, creating a chorus effect that enhances the anthemic vibe that most of these tracks possess. Organ’s harsh screams have also improved, and he is much more present on this record than any of the band’s past materials. It’s cool to see both vocalists get their moments in the sun.

The riffs, provided once again by Keats on the guitar and Organ on the bass, are widely varied, catchy, heavily melodic, and well written. There are so many great moments where the band’s riffs and vocals harmonize, like on the track “Stay Home”, that just feel so damn good to listen to. On top of that the guitar soloing, unsurprisingly, is off the charts. Keats has always been a ripper on the axe ever since I’ve known him, and the solos on here are easily some of the best he’s ever written. I also love the brief moments of acoustic flourishes added to the soundscape, like on “Chasing Angels”.

Drummer Daniel Keats has also obviously improved as a drummer over the years. While the music of The Skeats has never been overly complicated and is rather simplistic from a compositional standpoint, Daniel’s skills have been honed over the past near-decade that the group has been active, and his drumming on this album feels more confident and intentional than at any point in the band’s history.

Where this album loses me a little bit is in its runtime. Clocking in at just under 56 minutes in length this thing is a long slog to get through. This isn’t to say that the album has any filler material or “bad songs” on it. There aren’t really any tracks on here that I don’t vibe with personally. However I think for a record in the hard rock genre that boasts a punk attitude the band would’ve been better off caching some of these songs and utilizing them for an EP or another album down the road. I’d much rather have a roughly 30-40 minute release featuring the strongest songs in a “get-in-get-out” format.

Still, some of my personal favourites on this record come right at the very end of the album’s runtime. The track “Twitch” is a catchy punk rock ditty that feels like it came right out of the 90’s or early 2000’s skate punk explosion. The track “One Makes Five” is easily my favourite song that The Skeats have ever written, featuring some straight up NWOTHM riffs that feel heavily inspired by bands like Van Halen, Ratt and Cauldron. “Chasing Angels” has some of the heaviest riffs on the record as well, featuring some surprise moments of syncopation. It’s rare that an album produces my favourite songs right at the end, but The Skeats IV did exactly that.

The Skeats have outdone themselves yet again with another excellent record that mixes elements of radio rock, punk and heavy metal together in an easy to digest, accessible, and yet vibrantly catchy and energetic mixture. While the runtime is a bit of a downer, the songs are at least quite maturely written and exemplary of a band that is only going to get better with more time and experience than the past nine years have already afforded them.

Final Verdict: 8.5/10
Great

Favourite Tracks:
“Torch”
“Black Sensations”
“Stay Home”
“Fifth Degree”
“Fine Wine”
“Twitch”
“One Makes Five”
“Chasing Angels”

For Fans of:
Billy Talent
Pennywise
Avenged Sevenfold
Van Halen

~ Akhenaten

The Skeats in the Studio for Album #4, Reveal Tracklist

St. John’s hard rockers The Skeats are currently hard at work on their fourth full length record, which currently remains untitled. The band revealed that they were back in the studio on February 25th, 2023 through their social media pages, working once again with Ward Pike at Comfort Cove Sound Studio. The following day, February 26th, the band revealed that recording of the drums and bass have been completed alongside an outline of most of the tracklist.

While the first track’s name is obscured, the rest of the tracklist is as follows:

2. “Black Sensations”
3. “Secret Side”
4. “Hang It Up”
5. “5th Degree”
6. “Stay Home”
7. “Call to Action”
8. “Daze”
9. “Twitch”
10. “Fine Wine”
11. “1=5”
12. “Sunrise”
13. “Chasing Angels”
14. “Full Grown”

~ Akhenaten

Metal Maniacs: CJ

CJ is the sole member of the lo-fi indie rock / bedroom pop project The Fencesitters, and while he may not play extreme or heavy music, we’re happy to have some representation from the island’s extreme northern tip in this installment of Metal Maniacs!

Hey all! My name is CJ and I am a young multi-instrumentalist creating lo-fi indie rock music under my pseudonym, The Fencesitters. Almost all music released by any artist derives some inspiration from other albums, whether that be an album that got someone interested in music, or an album that highly influenced their writing style. In this installment of Metal Maniacs, I selected ten albums that revolutionized the way I make music and the way I listen to music, from the beginning to the present.

Twenty One Pilots – Vessel

This album was the first album I ever listened to and truly loved. Before discovering this album, my music taste revolved around whatever was playing on the radio at the time, and I didn’t have any particular interest in music. While I don’t really listen to this album much anymore, I still really like some of the songs on it. The songs that really stuck out to me on first listen were “Trees” and “Truce”. The tense banging drums and pulsating synths on “Trees”, leading into the slow, emotional piano ballad on “Truce” absolutely amazed me. I distinctly remember just sitting in silence after the final track played and having all these emotions running through my brain, none of which I can describe in words. A highlight from this album would be, “Ode to Sleep”.

Radiohead – In Rainbows

In Rainbows was not the first Radiohead album I heard. That would be OK Computer, but I think that In Rainbows was a much more inspiring album than OK Computer was to me. I think this is a perfect album, front to back. Every single song on this album is an absolute banger, and I could listen to nothing but this album for years and not get bored of it. This is the album that inspired me to pick up the guitar and start writing more complex songs, and while a lot of those songs weren’t super great, it’s still a massive stepping stone in the maturing of the songwriting process I follow right now. A highlight from this album is definitely, “All I Need”.

Nirvana – Nevermind

I feel like everyone in the world knows about this album. Back in 2018, I used to listen to this album a lot, and it is another really important album for shaping the songs I write today. It’s a really solid, catchy alt-rock album that heavily inspired a lot of the early songs I wrote before The Fencesitters. I think my favorite track on this album is, “Lithium”.

Weezer – Pinkerton

Weezer is a band that I grew up with, particularly with the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games. I used to play songs such as “El Scorcho”, “Say It Ain’t So”, and “My Name is Jonas” on those games. There was a point around 2017 where I was really into Guitar Hero content creators, which inspired me to try and 100% FC (Full Complete) “My Name is Jonas” on the third game in the franchise. In 2019, my friend Alec introduced me to this album, as prior to checking out this album, I would occasionally listen to their self-titled Blue Album. Listening to this album for the first time gave me an urge to have a massive production shift, and once again helped shape my current songwriting style. The song “Tell You” off of my EP Acontium was heavily inspired by “Butterfly”. I like most of the songs on this album, but a real highlight for me is, “The Good Life”.

American Football – LP1

This is an album I also found in 2019, most likely through a meme that had their most popular song “Never Meant” in it. American Football’s first self-titled LP was one that inspired me to write more complex songs, just like In Rainbows did, but instead, it was to write more technical stuff. I really dislike these songs I wrote in this time period, as I still wasn’t particularly skilled at guitar, so they are just really poor attempts at trying to mimic the sound of this album with the limited knowledge and skills I had at the time. The song “Stay Home” is a highlight that I still listen to quite frequently.

Car Seat Headrest – Twin Fantasy

Another immensely inspiring album, which on first listen, I wasn’t a fan of. I first heard this album in the latter part of 2019, and didn’t really listen past the first track or so, which was probably why I wasn’t a fan of it. I also didn’t know the difference between the 2011 version and the 2018 remake, which I kept switching between when listening. In early 2020, I gave the 2018 remake another chance and immediately fell in love. To this day, I still think this album is the biggest inspiration I have. My first EP, Aconitum, is heavily tonally inspired by early Car Seat Headrest albums such as Twin Fantasy. This was the first album since Vessel that had invoked the same sort of emotional response on my first full listen. A highlight from this album would be, “Famous Prophets (Stars)”.

Elliott Smith – Either / Or

An absolute indie folk classic, inspiring so many musicians I know and love today, including myself. I first discovered this album because I have an older sibling who changed their name to Elliott because of Smith’s music. They made a post on Facebook of 10 albums that changed their life, and From a Basement on the Hill was their pick. I listened to that album and really enjoyed it, but then I listened to Either/Or, and my life was never the same again. Something about every song struck a chord with me, the lyrics, the songwriting, the production, everything is shaped perfectly. This is the album that really propelled me to start learning how to play guitar better, and as I found it during quarantine, I had plenty of time to learn. This album is still one of my favorites, and Elliott Smith is still my absolute favorite musician. A highlight would be, “Speed Trials”.

Duster – Stratosphere

The first Duster album I heard was their 2019 self-titled album after it appeared on my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist. At this time, I was an avid RateYourMusic user and found their album with the highest average was Stratosphere. Immediately I fell in love with the album, and while I don’t listen to it much, I do listen to a few select songs from it. This was my first really big introduction to the slowcore genre, a genre that heavily inspires some of the music I make now, especially the song “Addicted” from my EP, Aconitum. A highlight from this album in my opinion would be, “Constellations”.

Alex G – Race

There was a point in the summer of 2021 when I would listen to this album multiple times, daily. I would go for evening walks with this album playing in my headphones, setting an excellent mood for what emotions seeing the sunset over the hill inspired, while the town was covered in dark, orange light. Those lo-fi, dark-sounding folk tracks are ones that heavily influenced the way I wrote songs that summer and still do to this day, while on a less grandiose scale. I love this album so much that I spend over 50 dollars just to buy some red cassettes so I could make an accurate bootleg tape, as the original tape went for a lot of money. A highlight of mine would be, “Crab”.

Jexno – No Fun

This might be a little unfair as an online friend of mine made the album, but front to back, this album amazes me. What Jexno was able to do with an iRig, an iPhone, and GarageBand is incredible, and even though the album is quite lo-fi at spots, the songwriting is amazing, with super catchy hooks and intense buildups to the songs that solidified my opinion on the importance of melodies in music. A highlight of mine would be, “Movie”.

I hope you enjoyed the list of my ten most influential albums. Maybe some of these albums can influence you too!

~ Written by CJ
~ Edited by Akhenaten