Morning skankers - this week was dominated by the release of the new Mighty Mighty BossTones single on Tim Armstrong's Hellcat Records. This was a huge surprise to the ska community as the contributing artists (of which there are many!) were sworn to secrecy. Full lineup is here https://www.buttondownradio.com/post/new-mighty-mighty-bosstones-and-friends-single-out-now
This tune runs for a solid 8 minutes and the Tim Armstrong influence is obvious. Recorded in isolation - which is a defining feature of this pandemic - it's a great tune and very welcome as we rip through lockdown 3.0
Next up, the new single from self confessed 4th wave ska sensations, Death of Guitar Pop in a collaboration with King Hammond (aka Nick Welsh). This is a reworking of King Hammond Shuffle - DOGP Shuffle and is the first tune released from their forthcoming album 'Pukka Sounds' and an exciting teaser for what we will receive towards the summer. Album pre-sales are already exceeding 1000 copies. Order yours at https://skaclubessex.clickfunnels.com/pukkasoundsorderpage
The Abruptors - 4 piece crew from New York, released their follow up single 'To Have And To Have Not' on Mike Park's fantastic Asian Man Records - Who What Where. A cool modern ska take on life during the pandemic.
New ska punk release from Omnigone. Omnigone is a project by ex Link-80 member Adam Davis and a rotating group of friends including: Barry Krippene (Link 80/Blast Bandits) and a rotating cast of players including: Brent Friedman (We Are The Union), Steve Borth (Rx Bandits / Link 80), Justin Amans (Kitty Kat Fan Club/Obikubo Station), Jeremy Hunter (Skatune Network/We Are The Union), Bootie Pook (Beat the Red Light), Aaron Carnes (Flat Planet) & Reece Noble. Togther they recorded thirteen tracks that make up their debut full length No Faith. Available now on Badtime Records (who brought us the ridiculously good Ska Against Racism compilation last year). The vinyl copies come in 4 beautiful coloured variants.
Outstanding trad ska with a heavy jazz influence from Japan's Beat Sunset is their track なまらくさ【カッコつけてる方のPV、スカエクササイズ実践編】which VERY roughly translates as 'Show Off (an exercise in ska)' well that's as close as I can get. It is four minutes of frantic, skatalites fuelled, trad ska and delight to the ears and so alarmingly great to see a band standing a) in the same room as each other and b) less than two metres apart. Outstanding stuff.
If you are on the Button Down Radio Group 'Ska - Button Down Radio Hub' (and why aren't you? Go join now https://www.facebook.com/groups/skabuttondownradiohub ) you won't have failed to have noticed that Pachecos Orchestra have released a new tune 'Pan de Ajo' another masterful mid-paced trad ska piece with a latin American feel.
What Do You Know About Ska Punk Vol 5 releases today (Sunday 31st January) and promises to be a corker. 135 artists all in one place.
Physical copies sell out in minutes so keep an eye on https://whatdoyouknowaboutskapunk.bandcamp.com/ to be in with a chance to grab some new vinyl. WDYKASP have been compiling the best of ska and ska punk since 2014 with the great 'For The Love' compilations, soon followed by WDYKASP Vol 1 in 2017 The line up looks ridiculously good - check these shots grabbed from their Facebook page
So many Button Down Radio favourites in there. Always outstanding value.
Gold Steppers (featuring ex members of The Dualers) keep teasing us with studio mixes of their live recordings. They claim to have album's worth of material and we hope it sees the light of day!
Italy's TLA have released their 2nd full length album Il Giusto Verso (The Right Way) recorded at Produzione Fantasma. 11 slabs of top draw ska punk in the vein of Call Me Malcolm / Kill Lincoln. An accomplished album and a great follow up to 2020's Rita da Influencer. Why not check it out at https://tlaskapunk.bandcamp.com/album/il-giusto-verso
As ever, we are awaiting our final bill from PRS before we decide what happens with the station. Fingers crossed the bill ain't too bog and we can return to playing you these great songs as well as writing about them.
Cheers
Mr P