The Pilfers' Elevating Review

Pilfers - s/t

How I ended up with the Pilfers cd is pretty cool actually. Well, my first encounter with anything Pilfers related was at the Toasters show at Wetlands on Dec. 28, 1997. Ruder Than You was late so Coolie formed a little improvisation band to keep us entertained. My friends and I were thoroughly impressed with Coolie Ranx's talent and were interested in the cd. About a month later, on Jan. 29, my best friend Cindy and I were listening to Tunnel One (NYU's ska station) and Coolie Ranx was a guest DJ with Edna's Goldfish as well. We were pretty hyped cuz we were also big Edna's Goldfish fans. Anyhow, they were giving away 2 Pilfers cds and one of the questions Coolie asked was "Who invented human cloning?" Since my friend, Diane's been running around telling everyone that Richard Seed's nickname was "Dick Seed", I had a pretty clear guess that it was Richard Seed and low and behold, I won the Pilfers cd. Yay!!!

I got the cd in the mail a week later. I can confidently say that it is really good. The Pilfers are definitely one of the more distinctive modern ska bands today. It's a melodic mix of reggae, some dancehall, a little hardcore, and of course SKA. The cd opens with an intro by Coolie and goes right into one of my favorite tunes, Dr. Kervorkian. By now, you're thinking, wow good stuff. Does it stay so good? After a few more songs, you're like damned, this is like one of the best ska core I've gotten my hands on. Not only does Coolie's melodic Jamaicanny voice empowers the elevation that the band promises, Vinnie (ex-Bim Skala Bim trombonest) also joins in with his powerful charismatic singing. With the chanky upbeat, they also got those horns that anyone ska band would be jealous of. The whole cd runs through your cd player, and you quickly run to hit repeat cuz the Pilfers just have that effect on you. By now, you skankin' up a storm and your room is probably no longer recognizable but hey, you still got your Pilfers cd! That's is how good the cd is!

I highly recommend this cd. Not only is it a good album, the Pilfers are also a cool bunch of guys and support them! The album is 100% DIY. They're not even selling it in stores. Only available at Pilfers shows and through mailorder. Check their web page at www.Pilfers.com for more info.

- Guin