Well, it has been another week of reading In Defense of Ska, so naturally that is the type of vibe we’re getting today. While the first two are mentioned in the book, the last one is tangentially and thematically related.
Hepcat “No Worries”
This has long been a chill vibe favorite of mine. We were pretty into this album for a while in high school, before any experience with substances. Unsurprisingly, the song does manage to get more chill and have less worries in certain states.
Fun Fact: You might recognize the Hepcat lead singer from such television shows as Boy Meets World. He (Alex Désert) was the fellow teacher and friend of the teacher that took Shawn in. He also happened to play “Hep Cat” the poet/musician Cory interrupts him when he’s “playing a song, maann.”
Fun Fact related Aside: I would have lost a sizeable bet about whether this blog would ever include links to a Boy Meets World fandom wiki, but here we are.
The Untouchables “What’s Gone Wrong”
I have to give it up to Aaron Carnes on this one (and realistically, many, many other ones too). I hadn’t ever listened to this band, despite hearing they name for ages. It has some incredible guitar riffs and an infectious beat. The type of song your head already knows how to bob along to. I’m a big fan of the Blue Note records style album cover design too, timeless.
Minutemen “History Lesson Part II”
Ok so, this one isn’t a ska song. Like, at all. But you know what, when Carnes mentioned the Fishbone cover of Sublime, it got me to pull up the 40oz to Freedom record for the first time in probably a decade. As you may know, that album’s first track, “Waiting for My Ruca”, starts with the following quote:
Punk rock changed my life
The Minutemen
I dug the sample on the song when I heard it, but when I finally listened to the Minutemen record Double Nickels on the Dime and this song, it connected on another level. While not in as profound of a philosophical way as D. Boon, punk rock and ska have definitely changed my life.
The song begins with a phrase that will also seem familiar, as it became the name of the “textbook” we used for my History of American Independent rock class, Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad.
