Madness
Can’t Touch Us Now
(Universal)
While Madness may not have yet been able to top the 1982 success of “Our House” here in the U.S., aside from a 6-year break up in the mid/late ‘80s, the ska/pop have been turning out some brilliant albums in the decades since, at times going surprisingly unnoticed on this continent.
Their latest, Can’t Touch Us Now, though not without some faults, is a perfect example. The title track is a little underwhelming, but by the third track, the rollicking “Mr. Apples,” the band is clearly back in prime form, playing their impressive take on 2-tone, R&B and pop that helped launch a slew of future ska punk bands hallway across the globe. Lyrically, Madness is on their game as well, on tracks like “Blackbird,” “Mumbo Jumbo” (a solid political anthem) and “Another Version of Me,” one of their most playful songs in years that could have easily (if you ignore the lyric about a hands-free phone) come off of the 1979 classic One Step Beyond.
Amazingly, unlike many of their peers from the early ‘80s who can boast one or two original members at most, Can’t Touch Us Now, like most of their records has a line-up that dates back more than three decades.
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