Sometimes a band comes along that becomes the face of an entire era of music. For me, Kill Lincoln is that band for the 2020s ska scene. This album only solidifies that standing. I could mention their role in creating Bad Time Records, signing the bands that help define the era, the iconic sounds, the focus on mental health, never accepting the genre as a joke or just fun, but also never taking themselves too seriously, and always being danceable. I could talk about their headlining the Bad Time Records tour that would out ska shows all across the country at a time when many bookers refuse to even book a ska show. But this isn’t just about Kill Lincoln and their ability to be the face of a generation of ska fans. This is about their album “No Normal” and how you should definitely be listening to it.
“No Normal” is a reference to the constant bullshit claims in the media that we everything is a part of a “new normal” and that we have to accept more and more shifty situations in the world as a part of a “new normal” – that we have to normalize a shifty world. “No Normal” is Kill Lincoln’s fuck you to the myth. We don’t have to normalize anything, and none of this is normal.
The album is eleven high energy tracks, that, as expected if you’ve listened to their previous albums, focus mostly on mental health and observations about the world we live in and how we exist and fight to stay alive inside this world. There is a level of punk and ska-core energy inherent in their music, if you are looking for a comparison from another era, the best I could give would probably be The Suicide Machines.
This album is just a blast of great hooks. What was already one of my favorite bands just put out a front runner for album of the year. I’ve listened to this album so many times and have yet to find anything that I don’t love. It steps up the concepts that they’ve laid out over their previous albums and brings everything up to another level, from the gang vocals to the ska riffs, from the sound of the feet dancing in the syncopated spacing to the uptempo horns, bass, and drums, this album is just top notch. The complete jam session of “Coming or Going” makes everything on this album feel special. This is not an album that I’m going to be listening to this year, but an album that will be immediately in my permanent rotation. No misses.
Written by Gimp Leg
