Review: Steve Caballero

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Steve Caballero
“Bandology Vol. 1”
(Sessions Records)

I skated by the Little League fields a few minutes ago.  Just by watching a few innings of little kids chasing a ball around probably added a year to my life expectancy.  Sure, it’s not the high caliber of hardball that’s on ESPN, but it’s timeless, charming and sometimes more fun than the real deal.  Sessions’ latest release of uber-skater Steve Caballero’s various musical incarnations shares a lot with Little Leaguers.  Granted, the coaching and execution may not be up to snuff with some of the bigger names in the biz, but there’s way too much fun stuff here to just roll by without a second look.

“Bandology” takes four tracks from four of Stevie Cab’s previous efforts and brings them to you in one neatly packaged CD.  The Faction brings a hardcore punch, with shades of Black Flag and the Circle Jerks jumping out to slap you in the face.  A few years (and a few Cure albums) later, Odd Man Out was born with Cab transitioning from bass to guitars.  Shovelhead is the third band featured here and the least enjoyable musically, as the heavy vocals and metal riffs quickly wear thin.  Soda, the final and most commercially well known of Cab’s bands, is well represented.  Their poppy catchiness is captured well on “Worth It?”, as Meegan’s vocals and Cab’s guitar mesh well enough to hide their obvious dislike of each other.  Listen to music, watch baseball.