Ok this is a little late coming, but deal with it! Over the course of their career, the Blue Meanies have made some, shall we say, "challenging" ska-punk music. Not always listenable, but always kinetic, the Blue Meanies could at least be counted on for a dose of insanity. On their most recent album, "The Post Wave", the Meanies have really come into their own, playing a brand of rock previously unheard by human ears.

The ska element that used to be in the mix is now almost totally gone. Instead, these songs are mostly mid-tempo punky-new wave with horns. As a nice touch, the CD lyric sheet provides the fan with explainations of each song, which can be handy when trying to read into vocalist Billy Spunke's cryptic songs.

The opener is an anti-drug rant called "Lay it Out". It's one of the faster songs on the album, and thats not to say that it chugs along at a break-neck pace. It sucks the listener in however, setting the stage for more moody fare such as the second song "All the Same". The third song, "Chemicals" is the first single, and is a little preachy for my taste. It's still a great song however. Other gems include the sickly, dark humor of tunes like "Do the Tightbelt", "Mama Getting High on Chardonnay", and "TV Girl". As an added treat, the Meanies team up with Jane Wiedlin of Go-Go's fame for the song "She Breathes Fire". Each song on this album is a keeper, rare for a Meanies album.

On "The Post Wave", the band has matured into a class all their own, leaving the ranks of faceless ska-punk behind. The guitars still churn, the keys still screech, and the horns still swirl. This album will most likely remain highly over-looked and underrated, which is sad, and may have contributed to the Meanies current state of "coma". Hopefully, once the band regroups, we will get another disc at least half this good.