Album review: Kid Kapichi – There Goes The Neighbourhood

'Cheer up, Jack, it might never happen,' chides Madness legend Suggs as he guests on Kid Kapichi’s ska-infused anthem, Zombie Nation. 'I think it already has,' fires back KK co-frontman Jack Wilson.

And that’s the trouble with living in a country as royally screwed as Britain has been for the past few years: everyone’s basically given up on the idea that things can only get better and is convinced they can only get worse.

Not Kid Kapichi, though. Their third album in as many years shows no dilution of their fury at the absolute state of everything, but what helps There Goes The Neighbourhood stand out from other state-of-the-nation diatribes is that their optimism somehow remains intact. So sure, There Goes The Neighbourhood is angry, but it’s also FUN with a capital everything.

So alongside the righteous, jerky electro-punk punches at Brexit (Can EU Hear Me?), the rigged system (Artillery) and the cost of living (Get Down), there are also silly unrequited love songs (Angeline) and endearingly daft Panda Pop-soaked ’90s nostalgia (Tamagotchi), all wrapped up in earworms so infectious that even cabinet ministers might sing along, if only they could hear them over the sound of their own dog whistles.

That’s not to say KK don’t do serious – the standout moment here, 999, is a straight-ahead blast of apoplectic angst at a corrupt and crime-ridden police force, while Jimi is a touching tribute to a fallen friend.

True, Kid Kapichi won’t bring down the government, save the economy or even slow down the nation’s rapid descent to hell in a hotwired handcart. But at least There Goes The Neighbourhood will have you smiling all the way into the abyss.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: The Offspring, The Specials, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

There Goes The Neighbourhood is out now via Spinefarm

Read this: Kid Kapichi: “Things might get worse before they get better – but they will get better”