Dublin ska-punk collective Mixtwitch have been on a mission to corrupt the nation’s youth for the past five years. Following their well-received debut album, Funny Because It’s True, the band toured extensively in Britain, Europe and America, and have now finally gotten around to releasing their sophomore long-player, the tastefully titled Smile For The Money Shot.
From the opening notes of the furious punk-pop thrash, ‘Let Them Wait’, it’s clear that Mixtwitch haven’t grown up. In fact, the band have opted simply to pick up where they left off, which means this record is a messy, immature and thoroughly enjoyable romp through a cigarette-butt littered, beer-stained teenage wasteland. Tunes like ‘Johnny’ and ‘The One That Got Away, Eh Son?’ speed by in a blur of serrated guitars and pounding drums, whilst ‘The Nappy Song’ even breaks down into a funky-disco rhythm mid-tune, with vocalist Cags offering the potentially-shit-but-actually-brilliant exhortation, “If you’re happy in your nappy, clap your hands”.
Though far from perfect – it’s a little one-paced and Cags’ faux-American vocals grate occasionally - Smile For The Money Shot nonetheless sees Mixtwitch showing that Ireland has its very own MTV-friendly, skate-punk anti-heroes in waiting.