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 In his seminal work on the theory of economic progress The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith famously postulated that production and consumption in free markets are guided by "the invisible hand" via the "uniform, constant, and uninterrupted effort of every man to better his condition." I mention this because the new, self-titled record by the Small Mediums at Large got me thinking about the pop music marketplace. The agora of music is a notorious and fickle place. It seems to me that a number of bands set up their stalls (in order to "better their condition") only to find that the town square is littered with other vendors hawking similar wares. The consumer, spending his or her limited entertainment dollars, cannot possibly shop at every stall. It follows then that if the number of vendors selling the same product (or products so similar in nature as to be indistinguishable) is greater than the total sum of demand for those products by the body of consumers, some of the vendors will fail. The hand then unceremoniously pushes them to either try selling a different product more appealing to consumers or shoves them out of the marketplace all together. Despite all their efforts to the contrary, record execs and music critics do little to alter the shape of the market. Their attempts to dictate the tastes of consumers (attempts that Smith would call "a most unnecessary attention") are doomed to failure: supply does not necessarily imply demand. The all-powerful consumer (the visible flanges of the invisible hand) will, like lemmings to the sea, make a bee line (or lemming line if you will) for the most appealing vendors, leaving the ignored stalls bereft, glassy-eyed and scattered throughout the square like so many sidewalk junkies in contemporary British fiction. Well, obviously, so what, you say. Get on with the record review already, you say. I should probably mention here that the SM@L are a ska band. (Ahh, it's all becoming so clear now.) Ska is a genre that no longer commands the rapt attention of the critics. Much of it is derivative and self-referential; tepid versions of re-hashed Specials and English Beat tunes that weren't really all that good in the first place. Though Sm@L are obviously quite talented and their record is a testament to their ability to play all different kinds of musical instruments, it is the genre that bothers me. In short, is there room in the marketplace for another ska band? I know, I know, ska is currently undergoing an enormous resurgence of popularity that leaves the music pundits (yours truly included) utterly baffled. This fact admonishes me, in best Rikki Lake fashion, to "talk to the hand." (Sorry, I couldn't resist). So in the end, The Small Mediums at Large are quite good at what they do, but will they be able to find success and "better their condition?" I couldn't tell you, it's up to the hand. The Facts:
They are: Dave Wesley (vocals, bass), Mike Edwards (guitars, backing vocals), Derrek Long (drums), Nathan Suh (trombone), Joey Bonnanotte (trumpet) and Greg Reuhs (sax). Their debut EP is out on Playing Field Records and is really quite a good ska record, that is, if you're into that sort of thing.
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