Anybody who has crossed paths with Skindred will tell you that they are one of the most infectious bands on the planet. Once one of their earworms has entered your head, you can be pretty certain it won’t be leaving any time soon. Quite simply, Benji and Co don’t know how to write anything other than absolute bangers and, even nine albums in, new album, ‘You Got This’, continues in that vein.
Opening with an absolute barnstormer in the form of the title track, you can already see yourself bouncing along with thousands of other shirtless Skindred fans in some festival field this Summer. With a hook the size of a skyscraper, Skindred set the level high right from the outset. Monster grooves, fun lyrics, and Summery reggae vibes, all wrapped up in three minutes of prime Skindred, it really is everything you could want to hear when you hit play on a Skindred record. Following it, “Can I Get A” is a bit more chilled than the title-track but that doesn’t stop Skindred weighing in with one of the most memorable melodies you’re likely to hear in 2026.
“This Is The Sound” is primed and ready to detonate every single moshpit, while Broke is the perfect chilled-out counterbalance to that. Showing the ying/yang of Skindred’s sound, one is a nu-metal tinged, hook-filled body-slammer, the other is a lazy, groovy slice of reggae-rock. Miles apart stylistically, but unmistakeably Skindred, they both slot effortlessly next to each other on this album.
“Big Em Up” and “Do It Like This” are built around mountain-sized grooves the kind of which will have pop fans, rock fans, metal fans, in fact any person with a pulse, joyously exploding into an uncontrollable gyrating, head-nodding outburst. When frontman Benji enquires if you are ready for the sound of excellency, you know the answer is a big fat yes especially if that aforementioned sound is one of thick guitars pumping out pulsating grooves, chilled-out vibes and unforgettable singalong choruses.
The ’Dred sign off with “Dred or Alive” a bonus track where the final peice of this gloriously fun puzzle slots into place. Ending ‘You Got This’, if you’re not a sweating mess in the middle of your lounge floor swinging your t-shirt around your head, then there is clearly something wrong. Skindred are the most fun you can have with your top on or off, and ‘You Got This’ has ensured that it is going to be the only album you need for the Summer months ahead.
As ‘You Got This’ proves, Skindred don’t write forgettable songs. Will we be sick of hearing “Can I Get A Woop Woop” by the end of the Summer? Well, if it was by any band other than the mighty Skindred, I would probably say yes but, as we know from spending at least one day every Summer in a field swinging our t-shirts around our heads like lunatics, where Benjii and Co are concerned, we wouldn’t want it any other way.
‘You Got This’ is available now and you can order your copy from the Skindred website
Comments are closed.