Original High Five: Good Enough

Artist: Original High Five
Title: Good Enough
Format Reviewed: MP3
Format Released: 4th August 2014
Reviewed By: Millie Manders

Original High Five are a seven piece band from Stockholm, playing a fusion of ska, reggae and punk.

Having formed in 2008, Original High Five have been on a mission ever since to spread their music far and wide, playing every size of music venue known to touring man bar an arena, and it shows.

From their slick live performances to this incredibly well constructed album, these guys are on FIRE!

Having first heard these boys at Boomtown this summer and loved them, I have been dying to get my mitts on this album in order to give you lot the low down on whether or not it came up to expectations. It has, just so you know.

If you are a fan of this genre you are going to love this.  Lyrics are well constructed and the vocals are actually beautiful, with three part harmonies dotted about like edible glitter on a cupcake.

This is a party album, with a lot of the content heart-warmingly normal – tour life, love life, and ordinary boy stories wrapped up in stonking brass, driving beats and mean guitars. OK, so the lyrical content isn't anything out of the blue or surprising, but it's fun-fuelled and fast.  It's also applaudable from a band singing in their second language.


Life On The Run is the first single released from the album, with an accompanying video available to view on YouTube mixing animation and live shots. It's fun and bouncy, a great song to listen to while you're travelling or to bounce about to if you see fit. More on the ska side of punk it has a great swing to it making you bop from side to side while you sing along.

The title track Good Enough brings in the reggae feel. There is a sadness to this song that lends an endearing quality, and great hooks throughout make it addictive; be it the brass between lyrics, the vocal melodies or the slight delays on the guitar coming through.

Where’d You Go is Original High Five's ode to a love song for the album: refreshingly there isn't too much mush, nor is this a politically charged album.  As much as we like a musician or band with a message here at The Punk Archive, there is a lot of it out there, so it can be quite refreshing to listen to something that is just simply about the ordinary life of ordinary people.

Original High Five's album Good Enough definitely is better than good enough.  Light hearted and fun, well produced and at times very funny; a summer hit and definitely a skanktastic must buy.