I believe I once commented in a live review something along the lines of Three ‘n’ Eights being the ultimate party starters, a band that will have your foot tapping from the very first note, but more importantly by the end of their set you’ll no longer be in control of yer dancin’ feet.
I mean, part of that might be the levels of drink imbibed on occasion, but all joking aside, I challenge even the soberest of souls not to find their feet moving of their own accord, and unconscious smiles breaking out across the most miserable of faces while listening to the fourteen slices of rabble rousing anthems from this gallus group who never fail to bring the shenanigans to the shindig. And even better than that they’re a bunch of guid cunts too.
Thanks to Leopard Print Hearts you don’t need to yearn for their next gig in order to bathe in the aural glory of these toe-tapping tunes from your favourite skanking Skabilly Cowpunk ‘n’ Rollers Three ‘n’ Eights as they open their hearts for all to hear, and feel the love. Now you can own the perfect set of rollicking tunes to help your next social gathering go with a bang, making you the envy, or perhaps the scourge, of all your neighbours as you turn the volume up to 11 and dance the night away with yer pals Jack and Jerry. And mibbe even Johnnie and Jim…
As you might expect from a carousing raggle-taggle bunch such as this, there is a fair share of drinking songs on the album including the tribute to aforementioned Tennessee and Caribbean natives Jack and Jerry, a song which also pays lip service to a more locally famed tonic tipple, add to that a rambunctious cover of the Flogging Molly classic Drunken Lullabies, made their own with Ingrid, Dougie and Gregor sharing vocal duties, taking on a verse each and you’ve got the makings of a rollicking ride.
If you’ve seen the band live before you’ll know they are famed for some choice picks of cover versions, so it is no surprise that as well as Drunken Lullabies another of their live favourites, the band’s take on Rancid’s ska punk anthem Timebomb, featuring Gregor’s instantly recognisable gravelly vocal, also features.
The album opens with the inimitable Ingrid providing her golden charismatic vocals on the album’s boisterous title track Leopard Print Heart replete with top notch brass contribution from Phyl. Phyl kicks off another of their previous EP tracks with muted trombone and Walk Away makes its presence felt twice on the album, with call and response lyrics sung by Ingrid on the original on which the sublime saxophone comes from the sadly departed Jo, while Dougie takes on the vocal duties on the follow up re-recorded version.
When it comes to vocalists on this album we are spoiled with Gregor contributing lead vocals to several songs too. The three vocal styles couldn’t be more different, but they complement each other perfectly and regardless of who takes the lead, the sound is distinctly the Three ‘n’ Eights, then when they come together on songs like the infectious See It, Believe It they create a uniquely spirited synergy.
There is something about this band that has a real family vibe to it, the sound on the album is a exemplary reflection of the upbeat and rowdy mood you get when you’re at a Three ‘n’ Eights gig. You get the feeling you’re not just a music fan, you’re part of a clan gathering, a coming together of like minded souls to celebrate life though the mutual love of a variety of music styles. All waifs and strays welcome. The exuberant fusion of styles on Leopard Print Hearts galvanises that feeling… even when the theme running through some songs is that of fractious relationships their is something about that trombone and ska sound that brings an extra level of joy and gives songs like Nothing Worse an extra edge there is undoubtedly something on this album for everyone, it feels like arms reaching out around the listener to gather us together as one, perhaps that feeling is organic and unconscious with the band including a father and son combo, hell, there’s even a fiddle tune composed for the late John Ritchie and played on his violin by another member of the Ritchie family, Morven, not only that but bass player Aaron is also the son of sax player Jo. Family connections extend beyond the band members with an insurgent provocateur guaranteed to start the dancing out front at their gigs.
As the old cliche goes, you can’t get enough of a good thing, and Leopard Print Hearts is the very definition of a good thing…a notion borne out by the positive energy oozing in bucketloads from every one of the tirelessly dynamic songs on this album, every one is a winner with messages of positivity despite circumstances threaded through songs like Happy for a While, while the carefree and no regrets attitude of Do It All Again are enough to give the most deflated of egos a much needed boost and even at a bountiful all killer, no filler fourteen songs long the album leaves you wishing it wouldn’t end.
Unfortunately though, all parties have to end at some point and this one comes to a clamorous close with another drinking song, Last Train Home, it’s increasingly frantic pace recalling that lumbering, stumbling run I’m sure I’m not alone in attempting in a vain attempt to make that final transportation and avoid the hell on earth that is the Glasgow Central taxi rank…
But the party doesn’t need to end here, you’ve got a couple of weeks notice, and surely the fliers have reached you by now, so there is no excuse not to head along to Audio on the 22nd of March as it turns into party central for the night to celebrate the album release with a stellar support line up featuring Corrupt Intentions, Rudebeard and In the Plughole. I’ll be there with leopard print on ma jaiket, on ma shoes but most importantly leopard print on my heart.
Three ‘n’ Eights, gus an coinnich sinn a-rithist (until we meet again).
Leopard Print Hearts is dedicated to Three ‘n’ Eights saxophone player Johanna (Jo) Collins.