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When Tim Armstrong decided to give the fans of his label Hellcat Records a thank you gift, he was kind enough to package some of the best music he's been a part of since Rancid was in their prime.
This gift is the solo album "A Poet's Life", a CD/DVD set that features
the incredible Aggrolites backing Armstrong as he sings and plays guitar on 10 ska songs that put popular groups like Less Than Jake to shame.
"Wake Up" opens the album with some of the macho lyrics you've come to expect from Rancid side projects, but that's not a bad thing since they mesh well with the "dirty reggae" style of The Aggrolites.
The Aggrolites' appeal partly lies in recordings that are produced to sound like they date back to the days of Judge Dread. That same charm can be heard in the instrumental parts of songs like "Hold On" and "Translator".
Atlanta's own Heart Attacks got to do a song with rock and roll legend
Joan Jett on their Hellcat debut. Armstrong, their record label boss, sings a duet with Canadian pop princess Skye Sweetnam on this album. You can't say that he doesn't give his label's acts better treatment.
Seriously though, the Armstrong-Sweetnam duet is actually one of this album's highpoints, and the video for this song is quite pleasing on the eyes.
Upbeat tunes like "Take This City" and slower reggae-style tunes like "Oh No" show off the versatility of both the singer and his backing band.
"Lady Demeter" might not be one of my favorite songs on the album, but a video that briefly shows Armstrong in a Heart Attacks shirt scores the famed guitarist an untold number of brownie points with this fan of the Atlanta scene.
The finale is an instrumental that really displays why The Aggrolites are one of Hellcat's finest bands.
Eight of these songs were initially released as free downloads before the album came out, so that's good news if you are broke.
Downloaders should at least check out "Inner City Violence", a song that is reminiscent of the more militant side of roots reggae thanks to its lyrics, and the seemingly autobiographical "Among the Dead". These songs will make you want to hear more.
Why should you buy this album if most of it can be downloaded legally? Well, I don't see why a fan of Armstrong's music shouldn't check out this CD/DVD combo which sells for the price of a single disc.
If the DVD, which features a beautifully made black and white video of each song, isn't a strong enough selling point, there's more good news. The videos are all on YouTube.
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