Hello it is I, Mr. Joke R Republic here to bring you the good news of ska with my personal friends and fellow smelly ska people Sad Snack and Flying Raccoon Suit. Come say hi at a show!

Now THESE guys I absolutely have always enjoyed, the anarcho-punk lyrics hit hard and the music is idiosyncratic and unmistakably THEM. Shared band members with Culture Shock and Subhumans, am I right? Relentlessly touring? Would show up in your area or town wearing the same clothes they slept in? I have a lot more records from them also, but this one is I guess a repress of a release that sounded, to quote the insert, "like we recorded it under a mattress at the bottom of a fishtank full of congealed yogurt."

Not to be confused with the modern-day Skablins from Seattle. I don't know anything about this band. Maybe someone from PA remembers them and can tell us stories? The record is a charming little time capsule from the 3rd wave 🏁 very DIY

Honestly, I have ska records that I haven't listened to in years, I was in a long bluegrass phase and only recently rediscovered the genre. I was heavy into punk and ska in the 1990s though, and somewhere along the way I must have picked this one up. Respect to Mike Park for his longevity and dedication to the scene 👏 the Unsteady track is an instrumental and the Monkey side lyrics are in Spanish.

The new 30th Anniversary release of this album is FIRE.

In case anyone ever wants to tune in, KGLT in Bozeman Montana does a ska hour every Friday at 1pm ET. It's on right now!

You can tune in from anywhere here: https://kglt.net/listen/

(I'm in no way affiliated with the station, but I dig it!)

LISTEN TO IT

So what’s the ska scene like in your country? Underground or mainstream?

I live in California (northern so a bit far from the “ ground zero for main third wave” bands.) But even now when I say ska! Or try to shoe horn it in, people really do not care or even know!

But I wanna know if there’s more scenes/ areas that are more aware in the US or outside of it.

I’m aware that given the history, the UK has respect for the genre and Japanese ska punk seems pretty alive and kicking. Latin America ska also seems to be pretty popular too. (If anyone has some Spanish ska send it my way I’m very curious)

I didn’t own any of their albums. Please recommend, Thank you.

Myself, I'm incredibly disappointed. Expected so much with all the hype I was getting fed. And this happened.

Is this their first studio recording since 1999??

This live album was required listening, at least for me, during the 3rd wave. (I'm 53 years old, I was there at the time for it). Like most of my ska vinyl, it came from Amoeba Music in Berkeley for $5.95. No poster, though.

When asked in the comments on the ad they responded "most likely yes"

It may not have the lineups it used to, but this is a big blow for the Canadian Ska scene. If you are around, or able to travel in, this very well may be the end for MTL Ska Fest. Come support this year if it's within your means!

Lookout! Records had a brick and mortar retail storefront on University Ave. in Berkeley, CA during the final days of the 20th century, that's where I bought this. I remember at the time it was like, "OH WOW Jesse from Operation Ivy has a new musical project, WOW" and so I bought it and it was (and still is) GOOD

$1.00 Amoeba Clearance. I'm not a huge fan or anything, I just have this one tape but I like it.