(SkaPunk / Punky-Dub-Reggae) Resolution 242 - Resolution 242 / Resurgence (EP) - 2009-2011, MP3, 320 kbps

The latest Do the Dog Records signing is a band called Resolution 242, out of Stratford upon Avon, Midlands in the UK. The band combines dub, reggae, ska music with political and social lyrics. I usually like Do the Dog Records releases, but Resolution 242 isn’t my cup of tea.
I was never a fan of dub, or really slow reggae like this so I’m not surprised I don’t like this band. The hip hop, turntables scratching irritates me for some reason. I like it when Slightly Stoopid or Frank and his Skunk Allstars do it, but not Resolution 242. I think if this band sped things up and got rid of the dub sounds, they would be good. “Pigs” is their fastest tempo song on the 8 track CD. I like their acoustic folk tracks better than their dub tracks but there’s still something about this band that’s missing. So in a nutshell, if Resolution 242 were a ska punk or 2 tone band, I’d probably like them. I can’t like every ska album. Maybe their second release will be better?

The world according to Resolution 242 is full of corrupt bankers, bent politicians, a global illuminati controlling all the evils known to mankind, and an unquestioning media. In case you hadn’t guessed, this is a band adopting a political ethos and not some frilly pop-rock band. Now, before you turn off, hear this; Resolution 242 is not one of those ‘preachy’ bands. Yes, there’s a political message in the lyrics but it’s delivered in what can best be described as a positive manner, infiltrating acoustic guitars with a ska sound that’s accompanied by a whole slew of instrument jiggery-pokery.
Opening track “Bullets in the Ground” is a funky dub reggae number, recalling everyone from Suicide Bid to Sublime. It’s littered with scratching and big bass sounds, a real killer opening to this (mini?) album. It’s a style the band revisits on the likes of “Gaza Dub” and “Britain’s Nasty Politics” (which opens like Dre’s “California Love”, sweet) and seems the most likely route this young (very young) band will follow in the future.
Away from the ska resonance, Resolution 242 tends to strip back to an acoustic punk that’s highlighted with the sound of 60’s rebellion. The harmonica, tambourine and strings on “I.M.F.” hark back to the protest days when Bob Dylan was still an anti establishment powerhouse. It’s an anarchistic viewpoint but any vile spit is replaced by a sensibility and joviality that makes it a much more noteworthy number. Across the record this sentiment is reflected with accompanying melodica, organ and billodica (which I’m assured has nothing to do with the bird-watching Goodie). It’s varied and oh so precious.
The stand-out on this eight-tracker is “War Crimes” a song that sums up the viewpoint of that opening paragraph all in one fell swoop. A fat sample of a speech from political commentator David Icke (focusing on his ‘Problem Reaction Solution’ theory) escorts a mash of heavy dub beats, upstrokes and a bigger-than-big bassline. Lyrically it’s essential as well.
If there’s a point where this self-titled offering comes up short it’s that it doesn’t quite hold together as one. There’s a sense that these are individual recording gathered over a longer period of time rather than a comprehensive piece of work. “The Solution?” for example sounds a little tacked on, although the differing female vocal suggests that future releases could have a multiple vocal attack akin to The Skints or Sonic Boom Six. Still, for a band that’s not much beyond the legal age of smoking who recorded this in a bedroom, that’s only to be expected.
Summed up, ‘Resolution 242’ is a record that packs a funky reggae punch, impressively so for such an early outing. File this alongside The King Blues’ debut, ‘Under the Fog’ (the original Householdname Records version) and the current troop of acoustic-punk reactionaries. The sound of revolt is sounding good. Real good.

Resolution 242 are Alex (guitar/vox), Adam (drums/samples) and Rev (who rocks bass and occasional tash!). They describe themselves as "a three piece politically minded,dub influenced,progressive punk-rock band" and they hail from Stratford upon Avon. We caught up with Alex earlier this year to find out more.
How did you get together?
Well it started as me just writing some acoustic/folk/ska songs and putting them on MySpace (when MySpace was king!), then weirdly, Adam came on the scene when our girlfriends re-met up (they were childhood friends from Kent) back in Stratford!! So Adam asked to jam and it started from there...several members, EPs and gigs later...here we are!!
And how would you describe your genre/music in three words...
Hench but mellow?!
Rumours flying around you might be hopping over to Rebel Alliance Records, if so why the jump from Do The Dog?
Haha...well, RA have had some great bands on over the last year, but the noises I'm hearing is that the SB6 lot are gonna concentrate on their band for the min, which is fair enough, as like Barney said it's a task in itself running a label and being in a full time band. So we'll have to see what happens in that respect, and Do the Dog released the first album/EP record, but we havent really spoke about putting the new one out on it. Maybe we'll put the new EP out ourselves... I have a feeling, having ditched the ska element, that the new one could be on something else...but you never know
Can you talk about how you feel about political song-writing? Do you have a specific manifesto?
I think my lyric writing style has changed over the last few years really. I mean that first album was actually written 2 years ago! I think I've gone more subtle, I tend to not be so 'in your face' about things I'll write about nowadays. It's partly on purpose, but partly because I'm older and have a more rounded perspective on things I think. I also think that if your songs are really blatant you limit the people who can relate to it, so although the songs are still socio-political, the message is a bit more hidden than before. and to be honest I enjoy writing that way more - gives you more leeway with language.
Unlike punk, ska has not necessarily been the most overly political genre at times, but do you think these days more and more bands in the ska scene are addressing a political stance? What does the ska and ska-punk scene look like to you in 2011?
Yeah punk has always been political, and ska was traditional more skank and party, but we've definitely seen a shift lately. To be honest we've tried to move away from the 'ska' stuff in our music now as I find it quite limiting song writing wise, though there are still little bits here and there, but we've tried to go a bit darker and dubby. The scene looks good at the mo' but it fluctuates a lot and I guess it always will.
Where do the soundbytes you use on your self-titled album come from?
Just either on Youtube or through our good friend and producer George Lenton - he helped out with with a lot of them, but most are just mic up to speaker on a video ..DIY YEA! haha
Dominos Fall is a shift from the acoustic folk of your first album, why this direction?
We just felt that we needed to widen our musical horizons really and like I said earlier, straight up 'ska-punk' can be quite limiting to us as songwriters. and with Rev joining the band he added a bit more of 'rocky' almost indie/rock element to it...which is great for us as we like to dabble these days!
Best gig you've played so far?
Well, it should have been Rebellion 2009 but we had big old pedal malfunction and ended up only getting 15 mins, and I had only one guitar sound which was a horrid crunch sound....so yeah, that was a massive fail! Sooo I'd have to say either the Birmingham gig with Random Hand and The Skints, on the hottest stage known to man, or the Stratford gig we played the other day where we did a hip-hop collab' with our mate Mr Wheelz! Got a great turn out for Stratford which is very rare! But I love playing all gigs to be honest!
I read on your Facebook someone saying you track 'IMF' is daft because you never actually burned down the 'IMF', what's your response to this?
I'll tell you the response I sent to him on said facebook commment ..."haha! you clearly don't understand the concept of artist licence!! I never saw Howard Blake 'Walking in the air' or Fat Mike actually murdering the government?!? It's about the message and emotions of what I felt about the financial services and the fractional reserve system and not a recollection of a evening out in stratford on avon!"
You guys sing about Gaza, facism, bankers, police brutality etc. how important is it to link music up with actual physcial events and causes?
It depends on what your goals are for your music really. it's important if you want to raise awareness about a particular issue.
'Poet's Town'' tells your story of life in quaint, little Stratford-Upon-Avon, how do you feel about your hometown? What's it like gigging?
Aah It's a weird one to be honest. It's a nice place, clean and crime free, haha, but can be boring as shit and suck you in so you never leave! It's nice in the summer when you can chill on ample grass and drink and play footy and jam with guitars but it can get dull! However we've got a tight knit group of friends who support us. Loads of bands kicking around but quite a shit scene...but its getting better, slowly!
You've covered Bedouin Soundclash, any other influences you've like to namecheck?
It's hard to tie down influences as all of us are into completely different things,which is good for song writing purposes as there's stuff drawn from Hip-Hop/Punk/Dub/Indie/Prog etc so it always keeps the writing process fresh,but not so great when trying to find something to listen to on long journeys in the van!
What band or artist would you love to gig with?
I'd love to gig with Propagandhi or RX Bandits...
New EP coming out, what are the long-term plans?
Long term plans are get our music out there, lots of gigs around the world and eventually , world domination I guess....complete world domination