Band of the Day

The band of the day today is Authority Zero. Authority Zero formed in 1994 in Mesa, Arizona. They released their debut album in 2002. Authority Zero has a very punk driven sound as well as being reggae influenced and their shows are great for people who enjoy circle pits as well as of course skanking. They're going to be touring soon primarily in the south western US so if your in the area and feel like catching a good high energy show you can find their tour dates here: http://www.purevolume.com/authorityzero

Band of the day

First I'd like to thank JoelRiter for featuring me as one of his blogs of the week in his blog of the week blog check out his blog for other awesome blogs.

The band of the day today is the Baltimore based band Ballyhoo! I caught them live a while back and they were great =) They have a very relaxed reggae influenced sound. You can find tourdates and other such things on their site http://www.ballyhoorocks.com/

Band of the day

The band of the day today is ska/reggae band The Supervillains. The Supervillians formed in 1988 in St. Cloud, Florida.The band started out as a ska punk band but has since adopted a reggae sound and play a very relaxed reggae sound with an upbeat ska sound. The Supervillains have in recent years begun touring the US and put on a great live show. They're also a great band to listen to when your in an "altered state of mind" if you catch my drift ;)

You can find their tour dates on their oficial site at

http://sites.google.com/site/therealsupervillains/

100! (plus band of the day)

I just wanted to thank all you for helping me reach one hundred followers! You're all skanktastic!

And speaking of skanktastic I'm commemorating today by featuring my favorite ska band from Long Island, the now broken up Arrogant Sons of Bitches. The Arrogant Sons of Bitches (ASOB) was formed in 1995 by Joe Werfelman and Jeff Rosenstock. More members gradually joined their band, and in 1998 they recorded their first album, Released on Breaking the Law Records and titled Built to Fail. Following Built to Fail, the band experienced some success and played with bands such as Edna's Goldfish, Catch 22, and The Toasters. In 2000 they released their second album, Pornocracy.  At this point, many ASOB members quit the band to attend college. Eventually, a new lineup formed in 2001, and recorded All the Little Ones Are Rotting in 2002. In 2003 the band decided to follow the Warped Tour, playing outside of the venues. After a while they were invited into the tour. In 2004 the band completed recording most of the album Three Cheers For Disappointment. At this point the band was starting to break up, and Jeff started a new band, Bomb the Music Industry!  The album was finally released in 2006, and the band broke up officially.                                                            The Arrogant Sons of Bitches

After the band broke up some of the members went on to form Bomb the Music Industry! another major name in LI ska
                                                               Bomb the Music Industry!
                                                             
Key boardist and back up vocalist Jay Tea (aka JT Turret) went on to record a solo record called "I threw away your demo"  in 2005. Honoring the title track, the CD was actually packaged in other artist's discarded demo CD cases that he accumulated during his time as a Talent Buyer, Radio DJ, and Major Label Intern.This was followed by a full-length genre-bending album of Ani DiFranco covers entitled "Loaded Cannon", released for free online in 2007. A CD called "Demo(n)", including 20 songs with Jay Tea playing every instrument, was sold on tour in 2008-09. Jay Tea is currently the lead singer for the Brooklyn, NY band HELLO NURSE and keyboardist for Long Island ska-punk supergroup NIX86.
                                                         Jay Tea - I threw away your Demo

                                                                
Other band members went on to play in Let Me Crazy, and the Rocky Sullivans

You can find ASOB's, Bomb the Music Industry!'s, and Let Me Crazy's albums free to download on Jeff Rosenstock's record label's site. They're the first ever run solely on donation record label!

http://quoteunquoterecords.com/

The Nix 86's tour dates can be found on their site and they are playing a benefit for Japan this friday in New York City so make it if you can!

http://thenix86.com/

Jay Tea's free to download cover album Loaded Canon can be found here

http://snevesneve.com/jaytea/Loaded%20Cannon/

Hello Nurse's site has both tour dates and free downloads of the bands albums

http://hellonurse.com/

Enjoy all the awesome free music, you guys deserve it!  =D

Ska History Part 4 of ?: Punk goes ska (The birth of Ska-Core)

Ska and punk rock were first combined during the 2 Tone movement of the late 1970s, yet the fusion of the two genres became most prevalent in the 1980s, during the third wave of ska, and this is what most people associate with ska punk. During this time period Operation Ivy formed in 1987 in the East Bay area of San Francisco and is widely considered a pioneer of the genre as one of the first bands to mix hardcore punk with elements of ska, later known as ska-core.  The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting genres. The more punk-influenced style often features faster tempos, guitar distortion, onbeat punk rock-style interludes (usually the chorus), and punk-style vocals. The more ska-influenced style of ska punk features a more developed instrumentation and a cleaner vocal and musical sound.With these newer sounds at their disposal ska bands were finally ready to take the US by storm.

                      

                                                Operation Ivy, founder of the ska core sub genre

 

Band of the Day

Going back to my home Long Island for the band of the the today, The Roast Beef Curtains. These guys have a really laid back old school sound and are one of the biggest bands in the island ska scene. They've been touring the east coast lately and if you think you'd think you'd like to pop in to see them you can find their tour dates at http://theroastbeefcurtains.com/

Band of the day

Well rather than continuing the onslaught of US ska bands I'm looking to Australia today. The Porkers
formed in 1987 as The Pork Hunts, the band was eventually forced to change its name to the less offensive-sounding Porkers in 1990 after their regular Newcastle venue refused to present them with their old name. Because of this, their first release was the 1990 EP entitled Tired of Being Pork Hunts, which reached #6 on the Australian independent charts. They've been recording and touring ever since, The Porkers have toured extensively throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Germany and Japan.

^{You can find more on The Porkers at http://www.theporkers.com/PorkersOnline/main.html}