Boston-based Big D & the Kids Table are still chugging along, with a tenth album in 12 years. Unfortunately that is all they seem to be doing, playing the same, tepid ska-punk that rolled out with the Third Wave in the mid-’90s, and hasn’t changed much at all in the intervening time. Third Wave Ska was much less political and much more pop, thriving on a dynamic hard rock attitude that made big names like the Mighty Might Bosstones and No Doubt thrive, and that dynamism is completely missing on Fluent in Stroll.. The call and response between lead singer David McWayne and the gaggle of rudegirls is entertaining at times, but McWayne’s vocals are bland as white bread and their reputable live energy is too diluted in the studio to capture much attention. Lyrically there is nothing more challenging than fare for teens and drunk college students at a summer fair. Perhaps that is the appeal of Big D; they are predictable but comfortable, undemanding but fun like sipping a watery American beer at your favorite local pub. Perhaps they are too similar to their contemporaries from the left coast, Reel Big Fish, who also continue to churn out the same old ska punk… both had well received albums in 2007 that tried to put a lie to “ska is dead,” but both 2009 follow-ups fall flat. Side One Dummy
