Review: Catbite – “Nice One”

Bad Time – 06 AUG 2021

Catbite are both a throwback and a step into the future at the same time.

The Year of Ska rolls on with Philadelphia-based Catbite‘s sophomore effort, Nice One, a mostly hornless ska-punk album that’s heavier on the ska than the punk.  Frontwoman Brittany Luna is instantly likeable and her charm and vitality would carry the album even if the musicianship wasn’t as good as it is.  It’s 10 tracks of some of the most fun ska you’ve ever heard. 

The album kicks off with a killer guitar riff on the surf-ska tune “Asinine Aesthetic” as the band hits the ground running and bursting with energy.  The lead single, “Call Your Bluff,” is a fun display of punk bravado and attitude.  But my favorite track has to be the third one, “Excuse Me Miss,” because there just aren’t enough love songs sung by women to women.  Of course it’s none of my business to speculate about what Luna’s sexuality is, and for all I knew the song is meant to be from the point of view of someone other than herself, but the end result is a woman singing about kissing a woman, and I always love to hear that. 

“Creepin” has the most undiluted two-tone ska sound and the tune is absolutely electric in its intensity.  And then there’s “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” a cover of the late Tejano pop star Selena, performed in its original Spanish.  The original song is essentially a ska song anyway, so it translates pretty well, and Brittany hits that one sustained high note from the original song perfectly. 

My favorite thing about this sudden surge of great ska albums this year is that a lot of it is coming from younger artists who are more diverse and bring new perspectives to the genre.  Ska has always been an anti-racist culture, but now it’s moving more towards general social justice and representation.  I don’t know if we’ll ever dub anything the “Fourth Wave of Ska” but if we do, Catbite is certainly a part of it, and an important part of it at that.