Pucker!
| Pucker! | ||||
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| Studio album by The Selecter | ||||
| Released | August 22, 1995 | |||
| Recorded | 1995 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:48 | |||
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| Producer | Nick Welsh | |||
| The Selecter chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Pucker! | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |   |
| Martin C. Strong | (4/10) |
| Trouser Press | (favourable) |
Pucker! (originally released as Hairspray in the United States) is the fourth album by English 2 Tone ska revival band The Selecter, released in 1995 on Dojo Music in the United Kingdom as, under the name Hairspray, on Triple X Records in the United States. Following the band's reinvented sound on their previous album, The Happy Album (1994), the band recorded Pucker! in 1995 with help from guitarist Paul Seacroft. Establishing a new direction, the album mostly sees the band establishing a "mild-mannered" version of its ska sound while incorporating elements from new wave and power pop, leading to an uncharacteristic "bizarre blend of elements" which stretched the band's horizons. The album's lyrics are also unusually sunny and lightweight.
The album was promoted with the single "Hairspray". Though neither the single nor the album charted, the album received mostly positive reviews, with the album's lively spirit, peppy couplet of cover versions and B.J. Cole's pedal steel guitar appearance, described by one critic as one of the most unusual elements of the album, being highlighted. The band toured in promotion of the album in 1995, leading to the live album Live at Roskilde Festival. Moon Ska Europe remastered and re-released the Hairspray version of the album in the UK in 2005.
After re-forming with a new line-up in 1991, consisting of founding members Pauline Black and Noel Davies alongside drummer Perry Melius and former Bad Manners members Nick Welsh and Martin Stewart, The Selecter underwent a live reunion tour, leading to the acclaimed live album Out in the Streets (1992). After its release, Davies and Melius left the band, and original member Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson rejoined the band, sharing vocals with Black. The new line-up recorded the band's third studio album, The Happy Album, released in 1994. The album saw a change in direction for the band, taking influence from hip hop music,orchestral music,electronics and "contemporary rhythms," while keeping the band's ska sound at its core.
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