Skindred, as a concept, feel like they were created out of an unhinged game of mad-libs: a Welsh band fusing the outlandish nu-metal of the 90s with uncompromising influences from the world of reggae sounds like a recipe for a complete (albeit hilarious) disaster, but if you’re tempted to turn your nose up at the concept, you’ve clearly not heard how successfully the group were able to pull it off on 2023’s ‘Smile,’ which just barely missed out on hitting #1 in the UK. It’s the band’s ninth album ‘You Got This’ that finally secures that achievement— a shame too, as ‘Smile’ was absolutely the stronger record.

Skindred’s latest offering is lean and mean: ten tracks, barely more than thirty minutes of material, and it hits the ground running with its brutish title track. Webbe and company have never been the most intricate or thoughtful writers in the world, and it’s a trend that continues on ‘You Got This,’ an album that delights in shoving crunchy metal guitars and catchy hooks right up in your face— the band declare that they “got the bull by the horns and I’m coming in riding on it” on ‘Born Fe Dis,’ and it’s a pretty apt description of their approach here. Reggae metal is an outlandish concept, and it would’ve almost certainly fallen on its face twenty years ago if Skindred weren’t the act pushing it. The greatest strength at the record’s disposal is the abundant, infectious energy of its performances, explosive and cheeky as they are. Benji Webbe is one hell of a vocalist, exuding as much charisma on sitcom credits-worthy closer ‘Give Thanks’ as he does aggression on ‘Big Em Up’— no-one is the band is executing any death-defying technical stunts here, but it’s the energy Demus and Goggin pack into every moment that really sells this sound.

None of this is new, of course, and neither is much of what you’ll hear on ‘You Got This:’ it can feel like Skindred-by-numbers in places, for better and for worse. Webbe’s affinity for show-stopping choruses is as essential here as it was on ‘Smile,’ so much so that the verses on cuts like the title track and ‘Born Fe Dis’ can feel like a waiting game. If you’re revisiting these songs, it’ll be for the surge of momentum and volume the band deliver in the hooks, which are stuffed with cheery overtones and rumbling guitar parts that all feel very anthemic— ‘You Got This’ feels like an album of singles, and most of its tracks will surely hit hard live. The band’s absolutely focus on impact does lose its lustre over the course of the record, short as it may be, and while ‘Big Em Up’ is so enthusiastic that it hasn’t yet failed to put a smile on our faces, the likes of ‘Do It Like This’ and ‘My People’ don’t quite stand out in the same way. The guitar parts and song structures on offer here are  tried-and-true, yes, but stripped back like this, they almost feel rudimentary: there’s very little to dissect or discuss here.

Despite the relative safety Skindred enjoy on their ninth studio album, ‘You Got This’ manages to be a project of both highs and lows. The title track and ‘Born Fe Dis,’ as we alluded to before, are both perfections of the band’s signature formula, and you could throw the unhinged antics of ‘This Is The Sound’ is there are well: the success of ‘Gimme That Boom’ was no fluke, as this trio of energetic standout suggests. Moving in the complete opposite direction, we have ‘Glass,’ which brings a dose of emotional depth and heart to an otherwise fairly surface-level experience— for its mournful lyrics and tender piano outro, the track carves itself out a unique place in the track list. On the other side of the coin, the likes of ‘Can I Get A’ and ‘Broke’ wouldn’t feel out of place replacing Jess Glynne on those insufferable Jet2holidays adverts: the band’s charm wears thin awfully fast in the wrong light, and there’s something overtly plastic and drab about these tunes that doesn’t fit for a band as bright and unique as Skindred.

Webbe and company are a lot of fun, and it’s fantastic to see a band as passionate and off-the-wall as them reaping so much success after almost thirty years together— the album that’s finally gotten them to that elusive UK #1 demonstrates what makes Skindred so easy to love, but it sure isn’t doing anything more than that. ‘You Got This’ is a by-the-books execution of the group’s core tenants, pushing those distinct regard influences off to the side: it’s an album that elicits as many shrugs as it does joyful cheers.