Review: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – “When God Was Great”

Hellcat Records – 07 May 2021

Far from washed up, the Bosstones come surging back with a newfound vitality

I had long since given up hope for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones to put out a truly great album again. They’re previous album, 2018’s While We’re At It, felt rather bland and generic and really didn’t sound like a band in their prime. In fact, since the band stumbled onto mainstream success in 1997 with their surprisingly popular smash hit single, “The Impression That I Get,” the band has seemed unable to get back in touch with the genuineness that marked their early releases like Devil’s Night Out and Don’t Know How to Party. Rarely has a band I had written off as past their prime surprised me with an album as wonderful as When God Was Great. While it doesn’t bring out the heavy punk and metal guitars of the band’s early days, the album shows a connection to, and knowledge of, the history of ska that I didn’t know they had anymore. When God Was Great finds the band no longer striving for more mainstream success, but rather finding a comfortable place in the ska/punk underground in which to make great music.

The album finds the Bosstones firmly planted in 2021, with references to the pandemic in “M O V E” and “I Don’t Believe in Anything,” but probably the band’s most politically relevant song comes in “The Killing of Georgie (Part III).” The title references the 1976 two-part single by Rod Stewart, “The Killing of Georgie (Parts I and II).” Where Stewart’s songs were about the murder of a gay man in New York, The Bosstones’ “(Part III)” references the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a policeman in Minneapolis last year which became one of the key moments in the Black Lives Matter movement. The song combines ska with gospel in what becomes both a soulful call to do better and a cathartic prayer for peace.

“Prayer” seems like an appropriate word to use on an album called When God Was Great, which is a pretty unexpected title for the band’s first record on Hellcat Records, a subdivision of Epitaph records, (the label that was originally started to put out Bad Religion albums). But, while God is a consistent theme throughout the album, it’s not in an uncomplicated way. “The Killing of Georgie (Part III)” talks about the “awful grace of God” while the album’s title track has a cryptic chorus that leaves you wondering about Barrett’s opinion on God. But as one of the singles is “I Don’t Believe in Anything,” I’m left doubtful that this is meant as a pro-religion album.

The last track, entitled “The Final Parade,” features over a dozen guest stars from other ska bands, but some of the key guest stars include Amy Interrupter, Tim Armstrong, and first-wave ska legend, Stranger Cole, in a star-studded tribute to ska and ska-punk that goes on for an epic eight-minutes long without dragging. In fact, at 15 songs and an hour in length, I expected the whole album to get a little tedious after a while, but there are enough really good songs at every turn that the album’s long running time goes by really fast.

So shame on me for counting out the Bosstones, one of the pioneering bands in ska-punk and my (almost) hometown heroes. I underestimated the band’s vitality and intelligence, both of which shine through on a spectacular album that will silence and surprise a lot of other critics as well. Here’s hoping that When God Was Great becomes a new beginning for the ska-punk legends.