25th anniversary review: Catch 22 – “Keasbey Nights”

This review is part of a series looking back at significant albums on their anniversaries. Through the benefit of hindsight we will be viewing the album not just as it was released, but how it stands the test of time, as well as its place in the band’s discography and the genre in general.

Victory Records – 24 March 1998

My oh my, how the time does fly

Ya know what album really doesn’t get much respect anymore? Catch 22‘s Keasbey Nights.  A ska album put out by one of the most well-known hardcore labels at the time.  Its the record so nice some of its members recorded it twice.  Matter of fact, Keasbey Nights may be the only record in music history to have been released twice by the same label who would subsequently filed a $1 million lawsuit alleging in part that the album said label put out twice wasn’t in fulfillment of the contract said label drafted and signed about album releases. But Tony Victory and his shitty practices have been well documented and justifiably ridiculed, so let’s not get too deep in those weeds today.

Instead I want to talk about one of the greatest, and somehow underrated releases from the third-wave ska movement.  Lets ignore the splintering of the band into Catch 22 and Streetlight Manifesto.  Lets not worry that I don’t know of anyone that really enjoyed anything under the Catch 22 banner since 2000’s Alone In The Crowd.  Instead let’s celebrate the 25th anniversary of Catch 22’s release of Keasbey Nights, because when nostalgia finally wins and some ridiculously dressed club promoter finally puts together a horned-up version of Emo Nite, you can bet your ass I’ll be sitting at my desk with a gun in my hand and a bulletproof vest.

I’ve personally always thought of Keasbey as the Tarantino of ska records.  Hear me out, because I’m sure there are some of you thinking this comparison is quite the stretch, maybe it is.  Both the band and the filmmaker are at their most reductive base, nerds who want to be really cool.  Nerds who have used their vast knowledge and respect for their respective mediums to incorporate the different sub-genres into something new and fresh… who also happen to have a slight gun fetish and self-deprecating tendencies.  And just like Tarantino’s debut, “Reservoir Dogs,” Keasbey Nights has stood the test of time, inspiring not just imitations but innovations.

Catch 22 wasn’t just the proverbial feather in the 3rd wave of ska’s pork pie hat. It opened the door to the 4th wave and while ska never actually went away, Keasbey is influential to the current trends.  The current slate of ska acts owe a debt to Catch 22 and Keasbey Nights. As Bad Time Records and the rest of this current rejuvenation of ska continue to, paint the musical landscape in checkerboard hues, Catch 22 helped craft the canvas they are painting on.  Along with bands like Against All Authority, Catch 22’s association to Victory Records gave ska a level of cred in hardcore, without which we may not have the great records from Folly or Dissidente.  By putting the ska sound into punk tempos, Catch continued the tradition of ska punk, passing the torch to up-and-comers like Skapossitory.  The band was never part of the cool kids in the scene, they didn’t need to be.  Instead they were original, tight and fun as fuck.