Common Rider - Last Wave Rockers

If you managed to slog your way through that botched mess of an Operation Ivy review, you may have uncovered that I not only enjoy Operation Ivy, but moreover, the heroics of one Jesse Michaels. That is, unless I didn't even mention my fandom for Jesse Michaels in said review. I really don't feel like going back to re-read it, so let's assume I did mention it for the sake of the present review's continuation. So yeah, while I love Energy and have listened to it countless times, I'm gonna have to be cOnTrOvErSiAl and state that the ditty to our left blows anything Op. Ivy ever did completely outta the water.
Common Rider was Jesse Michael's third musical unit following the dissolution of the short lived Big Rig, who released one 9 minute EP in '94 and split up two years later. Last Wave Rockers debuted in '99, and sounds like the logical next step into maturity as far as ska-punk songwriting is concerned. The tempo is slowed, the melodies are far more developed and poppy, and the ska has been upgraded into rocksteady. This is one of the few albums I can think of that has a lot of variation from track to track without ever losing an ounce of cohesion. All the songs have such a relaxed, confident, feeling, and sound like they've been practiced and trimmed down hundreds of times, performed with nothing to prove to the audience but all the energy and vivacity that comes with that disposition. I don't know if that'll translate to anyone reading this, but that's about as perfect of a description I can muster. The production is clean-as-a-sterilized-object (catchy!), and every instrument sounds perfectly crisp and balanced, with Jesse's lyrics spat out with incredible rhythm and cadence. The hammond organ and sax bits definitely add to the disc's overall warmth, especially on tracks like "Carry On" and "Walk Down The River", as well as Heather from the "eh, alright" Teen Idols' back up vocals on a handful of tracks.
I've probably listened to this album well over a hundred times since I picked it up, so I can say with no doubt that if there's any flaws here, I haven't been capable of spotting them. Every track is extremely accessible and well-written, but here's one I've heard a lot of positive feedback on:

If I had to choose my three favorite songs on here, I'd probably have to go with pop punk-y "True Rulers", the closer "Dixie Roadrash", and the adorable "Deep Spring", which sounds almost nothing like the rest of the album, but still fits in perfectly. I've easily played the latter a zillion times, but I have to stress how difficult it is to just pick 3. Or even 6 would be harsh. The whole thing is really that good. Without further ado:

http://www.mediafire.com/?k5zgynjwzdt

These guys would go on to record one more full length, an EP with Billie Joe from Green Day on guitar, and a split EP with Against All Authority before calling it quits in 2003. All of them have their merits and are worth checking out (especially This Is Unity Music), but from my perspective, none of them could've possibly topped this. Jesse Michaels finally has another band together named for the opening track on this album, "Classics Of Love", but play in a more rock-oriented vein than the preceding stuff. I'll probably cover that and the aforementioned Big Rig EP in a future post...