The Specials

If punk-leaning fans scratched their scabby noggins when Jerry Dammers and Co. released this lounge-soaked classic in 1980 that's only because they were idiots. All the energy, excitement, and anger of their debut remains, but the musical variations are endless. The only misstep is the dub tag-on to the corrosively brilliant "Stereotypes." The summit of the ska revival.

This time they make the ska sound their own by synthesizing its trippy beat and their own inborn vocal attenuation into a single formal principle--a platonic ideal of fun. Especially on side two, the result is so light it's almost ethereal, political consciousness and all. (Grade - B)