January 2007  

• The Skids - The Saints Are Coming (Best of the Skids) / Masquerade Masquerade (Skids live)

The thinking man's punk band get another outing thanks to the younger generation.

 Quite why U2 and Green Day chose to cover the Skids "Saints Are Coming" as a charity single is something of a mystery. After all, it's not as if it's the best thing the Scottish punks ever recorded.
 
 In terms of commercial success and audience participation, look no further than Into the Valley and memories of singer Richard Jobson's high kicking dance.
 
 But the Skids were much more than just a new wave outfit to be gobbed at. In Jobson they had a charismatic frontman who'd go on to be a model / TV presenter / film director and expert on Asian film. In guitarist Stuart Adamson they had a craftsman who gave the band a unique sound and who'd develop the bagpipe style further with Big Country before, tragically, taking his own life.
 
 If you want to discover just how complex a punk band could be, try Of One Skin from their debut Scared to Dance LP.
 
 As well as the "best of", which also contains the mighty throwaway TV Stars, that namechecks Coronation Street characters from decades ago, there's also a live album to be bought. From 1980 it records a band at its height before it would start to disintegrate.
 
 If there's one disappointment it's the lack of tracks (only Iona) from their final studio album, the totally ignored but wonderful Joy. True, Adamson had gone and the album was anything but joyful as Jobson cried out about losing his legs at Gallipoli, but boy was it brave, experimental and atmospheric.
 
 i-Pod: Of One Skin
 Label: Virgin
 Rating: 3.5/5

by Jez Burr
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/music/2005/01/skids.shtml