To call the English Beat a ska band would be like calling the Beatles a Merseybeat act -- accurate as far as it goes, though hardly going far enough. One of the few bands in the 2-Tone movement to extend its integrationist approach to matters of musical style, the Beat (as the band was known in Britain) drew equally from Motown, '60s rock, music hall, and punk to develop a sound that was rich and allusive but always put the songs first.
All of which makes I Just Can't Stop It compelling from first to last. It isn't just the ease with which the band recasts "Tears of a Clown" as insinuatingly supple ska or fills its remake of "Can't Get Used to Losing You" with sweet regret; what pushes the album over the top is its authority and ingenuity. Despite the lyric's sarcastic wit, the true power of "Mirror in the Bathroom" is its snaky, obsessive groove, a sound that says more about narcissism than words ever could. But that sort of aural authority is typical of the album, filling in the bluster behind "Hands Off . . . She's Mine" and adding a sense of withering contempt to the anti-Thatcher "Stand Down Margaret."
After such a strong start, Wha'ppen? is a good question; although the band's musical skills are still strong, the songs are disappointingly forgettable. But Special Beat Service returns the group to form, escalating the Caribbean influence on the retro-skank of ska to dubwise reggae, as "Pato and Roger a Go Talk" (with Pato Banton) illustrates, and adding instrumental luster to pop gems such as "I Confess." But the writing cinches it for the group -- from the catchy, clever "Jeannette" to the irrepressible "Save It for Later," the Beat's music is never less than irresistible. Beat This succeeds previous best-ofs with a near-perfect sampling of the band's hits, plus suitably laudatory liner notes. (J.D. CONSIDINE)
Source: http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theenglishbeat/biography
