We haven’t written enough about The Skids here at PPM. There was a week in 2016 where we wrote about nothing but… and then didn’t have a “Theme Week” for it because it was all unplanned! Then we lost The Skids thread moving forward, and suffice to say, we received a package from a commenter recently and one of the gems in it was the 2023 album by The Skids. This was the sixth album from the band and featured a lineup with Bruce and Jamie Watson [of Big Country] on guitars with Martin Metcalfe [of Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie] joining with vocalist and founder Richard Jobson.

Having the partner from Big Country of the groups absent original guitarist in Stuart Adamson made good sense with The Skids reactivating in recent years, but the Big Country saga rolls on, and no sooner did the band release “Destination Düsseldorf” did the Watsons depart the good ship Skids for another chapter in the Big Country saga. I’d not heard the “Burning Cities” album from 2016 yet but I’ve some strong opinions on the latest results from last summer.

The Skids: Destination Düsseldorf – SCOT – CD-R [2023]

1. Open Your Eyes
2. Tidal Wave
3. Don’t Stop
4. Destination Düsseldorf
5. Here We Go Again
6. How To Be Free
7. Wings Of Desire
8. Things We’ve Seen
9. Greatest Prize

When the laser hit “Open Your Eyes” it was the nearest thing to taking a time machine back to to 1979! With three guitarists contributing [and all of them co-writing the material with Jobson] they had absolutely no issues hitting the classic Skids sound of rousing guitar Rock while offering up lean anthems as good as classics like “Into The Valley.” The staccato chant hook that broke the rhythm here was a fingerprint that was redolent of no other band. This band was still thrilling over 40 years later as though time had stood still. Try it and hear for yourself.

As the first song ended with nary a split second to catch out breath the band were off and running with the excellent “Tidal Wave” as a wall of guitars and massive backing vocals kept the blood pumping through the heart of the band who were obviously in rude health! The music to the first track was from the Watsons and this one was co-written by Martin Metcalfe. The joy was that all of this material was 100% Skids.

The chiming guitar hook that recalled police sirens in “Don’t Stop” would sit comfortably on Clash and Ramones records. That was the level of “roots check” at work on this album. If you’re out for thrills, you can’t really top the screaming guitars and drums stopping cold on a dime at the climax of this pulse-quickening number. But the anthemic title track that followed sure made a great try of that! The descending guitar hook that got its barbs in immediately had a glorious widescreen quality and the repeat of the song’s title at the end of each couplet gave it a sure power that burned it into my cranium after a single listen.

A cold ringing guitar chord and a motorik marching pattern on the drums by Nick Hernandez sucked us immediately into “Here We Go Again.” For the first time in the album, I could hear keyboards distinct in the mix as this long, expansive number filled the horizon. Most of the songs here were short, sharp and succinct, but “Her We Go Again” came within in striking distance of six minutes, and used the extra time for an evanescent, nearly psychedelic middle wight. Giving keyboardist Liam Saunders’ time in the spotlight with his string patches. The deeptwang guitar chords played down the neck were solid and cinematic; setting the stage perfectly for lyrics as inspirational as what Jobson was proffering here. If you’re looking for music that’s equal parts inspiration and motivation, I don’t think this album can much be bettered.

Following the near Hard Rock of “Wings Of Desire,” the album finally took a left field turn to the poetic. No great stretch for Richard Jobson, of course, but here it was used for the seasoning; not the main dish. “Things We’ve Seen” was an elegiac spoken word remembrance of youthful adventures that took a turn for the dark. And the music here was by… Hugh Cornwell? The minimal, pensive music grew more cinematic and thunderous as the tale reached its conclusion. Copies of the album on LP ended there but the CD had a bonus track in the redemptive conclusion of “Greatest Prize.” It began with a rousing, wordless chorale and spartan drumbeats before Mr. Jobson entered the song. After the first chorus the song burst to life and ended this album on an evanescent, joyful note as the song’s coda abruptly faded out.

This was a fantastic, if brief album, but as The Poet says, brevity is the soul of wit. My only complaint about this album was that the LP with eight tracks at 32 minutes ending with “Things We’ve Seen” made for a less compelling album arc than on the 35 minute CD ending with “Greatest Prize.” And if that’s my only complaint about this album then to dwell on this tiny negative [not even on my copy] would be churlish! This has been another great album I’ve heard this year that is 35 minutes long, is reasonably diverse and packed with nothing but strong songs and performances that immediately compels me to listen to it again after a single play. Can we ask any more of an album in this post-album era?

The big change on the next Skids album [coming next year, sayeth Last Night In Glasgow, the band’s label] will be that Bruce and Jaime Watson have returned to the Big Country Mothership, but based on the material here that they didn’t co-write, I have the fullest confidence that Richard Jobson will once more be hitting that Skids target full on as in abundant evidence here. There are a handful of vinyl copies of this gem in the band’s Bandcamp store in white, clear, and yellow ochre for £22.95/£23.95, but plenty of CDs at £10.50. so if you’ve ever thrilled to The Skids [particularly their early classics] then DJ hit that button!

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