Guitars, Drums, Tones, and Saxophones

The Toasters ft. Coolie Ranx

This past Saturday, the Ska is Dead! tour found itself, once again, at Showcase Live! in Foxboro, MA. For those familiar with the Boston area, we who live in Boston find this annoyingly out of the way. I’m spoiled, as I can bike to the Middle East in about 10 minutes. So driving 45 minutes to a show is pretty much something I moved to Boston in order to not have to do anymore.

But I digress.

The line-up this year was:

• The Boston Jolly Pirates
• The Brunt of It
• Hub City Stompers
• Deal’s Gone Bad
• Pilfers
• Voodoo Glow Skulls
• The Toasters
• Mustard Plug

Solid line-up, and a person into the ska scene would probably find little to complain about here. I didn’t, anyway.

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Under the Influence vol. 3

Unusual entry today. Instead of an album, I’m going to talk about two 7″ records that came out this year.

First up, is volume 3 of Suburban Home’s Under the Influence series. The UTI series features notable artists covering songs they find to be influential to them. Volume 3 finds Mustard Plug covering the Fugazi classic “Waiting Room,” and Bomb the Music Industry! taking on Pavement’s “Gold Soundz.”

Fugazi is a pretty beloved band. Even if you don’t know their catalog, you have probably had a friend press “Waiting Room” on you. The song is an absolute classic. Mustard Plug, as is their way, throw a bit of ska on it. It doesn’t necessarily improve the song, but it doesn’t hurt it. The vocals hit it pretty spot-on, and the addition of the horns makes for a fun addition. Overall, the song doesn’t out-do the original (naturally), but it’s not a bad cover by any means.

I have to say, I was wary when I heard Bomb the Music Industry! was covering Pavement. Mostly because, despite my most valiant efforts, I cannot get into Pavement. Much like similarly-hyped band Neutral Milk Hotel, I think they are absurdly overhyped. But, as Jeff Rosenstock writes in the notes for their cover, he figured a straight-up ska version of a hipster classic would really drive the indie rockers up a wall. Odds are it will, but it makes the song a lot better than the original. In my own biased opinion, of course. At any rate, it’s a damn fine ska number.

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