More than six years after 2000's star-studded but ill-received, PSYCHOTIC FRIENDS NUTTWERK--which featured contributions by Gwen Stefani, George Clinton, and members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers--Fishbone finally reemerged with a new studio album, STILL STUCK IN YOUR THROAT. With only founding members Angelo Moore (vocals, horns) and Norwood Fisher (bass) remaining, the L.A.-based group is a much different ensemble than its popular late-1980s/early-'90s incarnation. Still, its core ska/metal sound is intact, as best revealed on the fierce, pop-culture-skewering "Let Dem Ho's Fight," which showcases the potent guitar riffs of new recruit Rocky George, formerly of Suicidal Tendencies, and "Party with Saddam," a energetic, horn-laden number that echoes Fishbone's early hit "Party at Ground Zero."
Although Fishbone has not troubled the charts in over a decade, the Los Angeles-based ska/punk band never broke up or stopped touring; on the contrary. With only singer/saxophonist Angelo Moore and bassist John Norwood Fisher remaining from the original lineup, the group has passed the 20-year mark as a performing unit, which is long enough for it to have become established in the '80s nostalgia circuit. Not surprisingly, its last two albums have been live collections, Live at the Temple Bar and More (2002) and Live in Amsterdam (2005). The guest-star-filled The Psychotic Friends Nuttwerx (2000) was the band's last studio album until Still Stuck in Your Throat, the title of which is both a play on Fishbone's name and a reminder that the group hasn't ever gone away. Like many bands making a new album after many years, especially those that have undergone extensive personnel changes, the group seems to have been concerned with delivering tracks that sound like classic Fishbone. Those frantic ska rhythms and that belligerent punk attitude are therefore in place, along with Fishbone's characteristic quirkiness in titles like "Jack Ass Brigade," "Let Dem Ho's Fight," and the slightly dated "Party with Saddam." Moore, Fisher, and co. also evoke such funk predecessors as Parliament-Funkadelic, notably in the lengthy "We Just Lose Our Minds." But if Still Stuck in Your Throat sounds convincingly like a Fishbone record, that's not to say it sounds like a great one. David Kahne, who produced some of their great albums, returns to mix this one, but he would have been more useful in his old job, helping to sort out arrangements and performances that sometimes become raucous to the point of near-chaos. It isn't until the end with their cover of Sublime's "Date Rape" (repeated from the tribute album Look at All the Love We Found) that the current members of Fishbone actually sound like they're enjoying themselves on an album they probably would prefer not to call a comeback attempt. ~ William Ruhlmann minimize