Fishbone -- Still Stuck in Your Throat

From their very beginnings in Los Angeles in 1979, Fishbone was one of the most raucous and outlandish bands to emerge from a scene that also produced Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane's Addiction. Combining Ska, Soul, Metal, Punk, Funk and Reggae in a stew that spontaneously combusted in the studio and on stage, Fishbone was one of music's most manically entertaining entities. After a 25-plus year history and now in essentially their third band incarnation (only frontman Angelo Moore and bassist Norwood Fisher remain), Fishbone returns with Still Stuck in Your Throat, the band's first album of new material in six years. As if to prove that they never really went away, Fishbone moshes and roars with the visceral intensity of their earliest work, from the frenetic Ska jump of "Jack Ass Brigade" to the Punk/Funk slash of "Let Dem Ho's Fight" to the slinky Soul blister of "We Just Lose Our Minds." Ever the outrageous masters of blending the silly with the socially conscious (from "Faceplant Scorpion Backpinch" to "Party with Saddam"), Fishbone continues to inspire both discussion about the state of the modern world and St. Vitus-like gyrations on the dance floor. Fishbone won't be stuck in merely throats with this one -- brains, asses and ears also seem particularly at risk. (BB) Grade: A-