Sincere – that’s the word I would use to describe Big D and the Kid’s Table’s latest album, “For the Damned, The Dumb, and the Delirious” which is set to release on July 5th.
 
I had read somewhere that the record was a return to Big D’s roots. That much seems true. I was relieved, however, that Big D didn’t simply remake it’s first full length album, “Good Luck”. Just like every Big D record to date, you won’t really find another record by them that sounds quite like this one.
 
The opening track, “Walls”, plays like something off “How it Goes” or “Good Luck”. The majority of the first third of the album is just as “in your face”. Such fast paced songs include 5 of the first 6 songs -- “Walls”, “Clothes Off”, “Modern American Gypsy”, “Rotten”, and “Brain’s-a-Bomb”, which is a song in which lead singer, Dave McWane, vents his frustration (in full punk rock fashion) toward those politicians, religious leaders, etc who steal from the “lower class, the hard working middle class”. The middle third of the album experiments with more 2 tone/reggae/dub influences.
 
Political frustration can also be found in “It’s Raining Zombies on Wall Street” in which McWane calls out extreme conservative voices: Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Ann Coulter. This frustration and angst is something absent in Big D’s previous release, “Fluent in Stroll”. “For the Damned…” is without a doubt nothing like “Fluent in Stroll”. The closest thing to “Fluent…” is the song “Stringers” which plays like the long lost Big D cover of a non-existent Beach Boys song. Serious themes such as war, homophobia, and religion are present all over the record. Even so, Big D comes through with additional “feel-good” songs such as  “Walls”, “Clothes Off” and “Riot Girl”.
 
Needless to say, the album doesn’t play straight through without a few double takes. A good example would be “Good Looking”, which features tremolo guitar and tells the tale of those who are not fortunate enough to be rich or good looking. You won’t find anything like this ska-less track in the Big D discography. Another double take track is “Best of Them All” which follows the records first single, “Modern American Gypsy”. Both sound like plays straight out of the “Dropkick Murphys” playbook. “Best of Them All” is a celtic esque drinking song that sports the Boston working class theme. It, musically, hits home harder for me than “Good Looking”.
 
As usual, the Boston motif is present all over the album. Whether Mcwane is singing about specific areas of Boston like Allston, Roxbury, or Brighton or he is singing with a thick Boston accent like in “Roxbury”, it’s tough to forget Big D is from Boston.
 
 
Perhaps the most sincere moment of the record is “One Day” in which McWane reflects on old friends who have given up on their hobbies or the people he's met at bars who have told him to never change the way he lives. It rings true and completely hits home. For lack of a better way to put it, the song itself is like a Greatest Hits album. As you go through it, you can’t help but realize how far Big D and the Kids Table has come.

After listening to the record a few times, it’s difficult to believe they’re slowing down. The record starts loud and fast, yes, but still captures all the dynamics one would hope to get out of a 17 track album.
 
 
The record is out July 5th and is certainly right up there with everything Big D has done!
 
Stand out tracks:
“Clothes Off”, “Brain’s-a-Bomb”, “My Buddy’s Back”, “It’s Raining Zombies on Wall Street”, “Riot Girl”, “One Day”
Rating: 93/100