If you’ve kept up at all, I’ve clearly jumped head first back into ska and I’m loving discovering loads of “new” artists from the various books (In Defense of Ska, Ska Boom, and Hell of a Hat) and podcasts (IDOS). One of the standout artists that I’d overlooked throughout the years was Jeff Rosenstock. He was lead singer of the Asian Man Records band, Bomb the Music Industry!, a group noted for burning free CDs for fans and spray painting blank t-shirts in concert for merch.
Jeff Rosenstock “SKrAm”
This is a track from Jeff’s glorious ska retooling of his 2020 album No Dream, appropriately titled Ska Dream. In addition to the catchy ska related titles, there is an incredible amount of detail and respect paid to the music, message, and mores of the ska genre.
It’s not some joke cover album, it has credibility in spades. You have Jeff’s own ska past coupled with touring band mate Dan Potthast, of ska greats MU330. Some other legends lend their services as well, like Angelo Moore (Fishbone), who played a rad bari sax solo on a track that features a Specials sample. One of my favorite details is that the drums were recorded by Matt Embree (RX Bandits, Love You Moon) simply because Jeff always dug the drum sounds on the RX Bandits records. Me too, Jeff, me too.
Respect: Thank you Adam Davis (Link 80, DESA, Omnigone, In Defense of Ska Co-host) for specifically asking Jeff about the Matt Embree liner notes inclusion. Great to learn why and where that part of the album happened.
Be sure to check out the first song on Ska Dream too, as it ends with a nod to The Suicide Machines’ Destruction by Definition track “Our Time”. They rock the Jay Navarro voice with the blistering guitar riffs like the OGs from Detroit themselves.
The original (non-ska) version of this song has a killer video for it, you should check it out here: Scram. You’ll be happy to know, both versions have the double bass pedal hardcore breakdown part.
RX Bandits “Progress”
An early, yet solid, example of the RxB drum sound here. I can’t imagine how many times I’ve listened to this record (on loop because they are awesome enough to have the outro of the last song tie into the intro of the record). Their Halfway Between Here and There record was a ska staple for us, but this album blew our (teenaged) minds. The layers, the rocking out, the ripping horn lines, those drums, man… still holds up.
I had the poster featured in today’s cover up on my wall at Duke. It is from a freshman concert I looked forward to since moving to Durham, a tour featuring RX Bandits, New Found Glory, and H20. The 2000s really did have some lineups though.
The quote from the poster above is a pretty solid one. Included Below
Our civilization is characterized by the word progress. Progress is its form, it is not one of its properties that it makes progress. Typically it constructs. Its activity is to construct a more and more complicated structure.
Ludwig Wittgenstein “Culture and Value” / And a sweet RXB poster
The Frightnrs “Till Then”
Surprise, another band pulled straight from the In Defense of Ska podcast. As with the rest of the Daptone records bands, this album looks and sounds like it was released 50+ years ago. I mean look at that font pairing on the album cover, incredible. A quintessential rocksteady groove drives the song, but the haunting lyrical styles cement this one as a classic.
It is one of those songs where you’re bobbing your head and about to start singing along the first listen.
