Bad Time Records – 26 Oct 2021
A throwback to the 90s compilations that made us love music
Since the age of 14, I've had a love/hate relationship with ska.
As a high schooler during the height of third wave, I loved classics like Destruction by Definition and Hello Rockview. Hell, the impeccable Tragic Kingdom was the first CD I bought, and it's still on par with Rumours on my GOAT list.
At the same time, with success came poor imitation, as high school bands would raid the band room for brass to trend hop. For every Everything Went Numb, there were twenty forgettable bands who poisoned the well of the genre for at least a decade.
Even pre-pandemic, my friend Brian was pushing me back into the love camp. In the pandemic, I gave up my posturing and dove headfirst back into the genre.
Warning: fourth wave is coming, and the bands on Bad Time Records are looking to be the standard bearers. This compilation, released just before last year's Fest, highlights 10 bands on the label's roster who are worth remembering.
DC's Kill Lincoln (of which Bad Time Rec's Mike Sosinski is a member) contributes a cover of “That Song”, which happens to be the opener my favorite Bouncing Souls record. We Are the Union play “Broken Brain”, one of the anthems from the record Ordinary Life, highlighting lead singer Reade Wolcott's gender transition. Skatune Network‘s own multinstrumentalist, JER (also in We Are The Union), debuted a new song from what would be Bothered/Unbothered, and Philly's Catbite contributes “Creeping” from their last LP.
It's currently a tie for my favorite track. New Orleans' own Joystick bring “Detonate”, a headstomping ska-punk banger that's short, sweet and to the point. 15 year old me is slam dancing in my kitchen all over again. Separately, NJ's The Best of the Worst contribute “Fine Print”, highlighting their unique mixture of ska and metallic-tinged hardcore that flies the flag of Folly that I never knew I needed.
If you hate ska with all your might, don't waste your time on this as this sampler isn't going to win you over.
If you're open to new sounds from this unfairly maligned genre, check this out on Bandcamp.
Once hailing from the salty tundra of Syracuse, NY, Ben now calls the DC suburbs his home. He fell in love with punk after listening to Punk-O-Rama 3, Less Than Jake and MXPX in middle school. He loves to slam dance but is too large to stage dive.
When he's not pretending to have exquisite musical taste, he's raising two children, designing RPG products and practicing law. (Who knows if he'll ever get the hang of it.)
