Anything On Your Mind?
1997! Let’s see, in 1997, I started the year living with two roommates in a shitty apartment that was mostly intended for college students. It was a dump, made worse by the three of us not taking very good care of it. I definitely took a swig from a can of soda that had been sitting out long enough to get chunky, for instance. The week we were going to be moving out, the fridge died, and we just kind of let stuff rot in there. I discovered this when the milk for my cereal turned, yes, chunky. Turns out pico de gallo starts smelling like a corpse when it is left to just go feral.
Beyond the gross housekeeping, that apartment became known as the International House of Slack (later shortened to House of Slack, which is where the name of my game blog came from), due to the basically constant gaming going on. We bought a 4’ x 8’ plywood sheet, screwed some cheap metal legs to it, painted it green, and then parked it in the living room as a gaming table. Lots of games of Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Quest, Epic 40K, and even non-Games Workshop games were played on that table. Having people living with me meant that a game could happen at any point, given the goofy sleep schedules we all maintained. We also had several friends just a few blocks up the road who would join us. I was the only one of this group out of college at this point, but my job was relaxed about when I’d come in, so it did feel like an extension of college in a lot of ways. There was a major loss that I suffered that year that I don’t really want to go into, which is what really stops this year from being just a year of pure fun.
I’m curious how the chart looks. I would guess I have a decent number of these records, but it turns out I only have eight of them. I guess I was spending too much time gaming (and listening to ska).
What Are You Still Listening To From 1997, Josh?
Oops! All ska!
Foundation Ska and Ball of Fire, The Skatalites
OK, so, I really did listen to a lot of ska in 1997. I scrolled through my 1997 records and I think I counted 39 ska records from this year. Which seems like a lot? But I’ll say this: I think there were a lot of these records that had interesting takes, not just wall-to-wall ska-punk, and I could easily fill this whole blog with worthy records. But let’s instead start with recognizing some of the original architects of the sound. A fun thing that happened in 1997 is that the Skatalites released a very good new record and an excellent compilation of their older material. If you only get one Skatalites record, Foundation Ska is about as good a choice as you can make. It’s a very well-chosen set of tunes from the band’s early history, and it’s easy to see why ska caught on like it did. Ball of Fire makes for a fun contrast, as it really does sound a lot more mature. Some of that is the recording quality, but the band was also just a lot more willing to stretch out with their tunes.
Flip F’real, The Articles
Obviously, the third wave of ska was defined by the hybridization of ska with punk, but that’s not the only direction bands took things. Ska-jazz was also something we saw bands tackle. In a lot of ways, that’s explicitly following in the footsteps of the pioneers of ska, who were taking jazz and combining it with mento in order to come up with something new. The Articles, from Detroit, were one of those bands working in this style, and I think they did a great job with it. Only one record came out, but it’s one of those lost gems and one I still listen to. And when I was looking things up, lo and behold, they actually did record a second album which sat on the shelf for 20 years and finally saw a release! Hell yeah.
Traditions, Los Hooligans
Another ska record that leans pretty heavily on jazz, featuring upright bass and a generous horn section. They were not afraid to mix in some other styles to their music, and to mix instrumental and vocal tracks. It’s all a pretty refreshing set of tunes, and another example of the third wave being not just punk songs with a trombone. This is yet another band with only one album in my collection, although Discogs does show a second release that I never saw any hint of in the wild (nor does it appear on Bandcamp).
Ripe, Skavoovie & the Epitones
This is yet another record featuring a generous horn section (five players, including a euphonium), showcasing all those horns in goofball songs. The lyrics are nonsense when they’re not just blurted sound effects, which might annoy some people, but I think it’s totally fine. The arrangements are so lush here that there’s a lot more going on than just a guy going “ha hetcha” or whatever. A lot of ska in the third wave was intentionally silly, and your reaction to this record might depend on if you find it endearingly goofy or irritatingly stupid.
Back With A New Batch, Stubborn All-Stars
The Stubborn All-Stars were a ska supergroup in NYC formed by Jeff “King Django” Baker (Skinnerbox), who is the guy you hear singing on this. These guys all played with each other in a bunch of combinations, so most of the Slackers were here, guys from Mephiskapheles, the New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, the Dave Hillyard 7, and others. Because they were all familiar with each other, they sounded great together on the album. The Stubborn All-Stars were willing to play around with tempo some, with some dub, rocksteady, and others mixed in. It’s just a really solid set of songs, played impeccably.
Double or Nothing, Unsteady
All right, look, I’ve mentioned this album four other times, most recently three months ago,, so I probably shouldn’t belabor things. But, as with the other records highlighted above, this isn’t a ska-punk record, although they do have some songs on the faster end. It also can lean towards jazz, such as the languid “Ibarra”, featuring a minute and a half trumpet solo. The band swings on “One for the Road” and then turns in a credible cover of “Peace Love & Understanding”. I’ll never know which ska album I’ve listened to the most, CDs don’t keep play counts, but this album has a chance of being it.
Redlight, The Slackers
One more, I promise! Apparently, 1997 is the year all of my favorite ska records came out. I’d never really thought about it before. Anyway, I’ve written about The Slackers a lot, and so if you’re a longtime reader, you’re sick of it. So I’ll keep it brief: the Slackers are the best band of the third wave, it’s not all that close, and they’re still going. This record is my most played of theirs, and one of my favorite records period.
(It looks like they don’t have Redlight available on digital from their Bandcamp, but if you want it on wax, they have you covered.)
OK, Fine, Some Non-Ska Records
I figure I should probably put some things on here that are not ska.
Have A Nice Day, Motherfucker, The Mono Men
Garage rock label Estrus Records suffered a warehouse fire in 1996, taking with it most of the label’s inventory as well as the Mono Men’s gear (Dave Crider ran the label and started the Mono Men). After that horrible accident, the Mono Men only had one more record in them. But they went out with a bang. This last record is a ripper, just pure garage punk from veterans who had been playing it for years and years. Not groundbreaking, of course, but it wasn’t trying to be. There was more than just grunge going on in Seattle in the 90s.
Thriller, Lambchop
Lambchop have been around for absolutely ages, with 17 albums (per their Bandcamp) going back to 1994. Picking a favorite record from that pile of excellent music seems like a fool’s errand, but it’s actually pretty easy for me: it’s this one. I don’t think I’ve seen anybody else mention it as their favorite, but it’s clear in my head. Part of it is that this is the first album of theirs that I listened to. It’s sometimes hard to look past that personal connection. But I really do adore the songs on this record. The peaceful “My Face Your Ass” opens the record with Kurt Wagner’s sleepy vocals backed by a distant chorus, providing a completely relaxing start to the proceedings. That’s immediately followed with an audacious transition to “Your Fucking Sunny Day”, funky horn-driven upbeat tune that is an absolute jam and lets Wagner sing completely differently. These sound like songs from two different bands, but that’s the Lambchop experience. The next song is more of an indie rock tune, “Crawl Away” is a downtempo country-inflected song, and so it goes, back and forth. Love this record.
Hard Normal Daddy, Squarepusher
Drill ’n’ bass meets jazz fusion. Squarepusher would spend a lot of time turning the dial back and forth between those, but for my money, he nailed it the best on this record. Absolutely rips.
Five Random Songs
Yes, it’s the “classic” five random songs format. It’s been told before on this blog many times, but basically, on an old forum, people would post the last five songs their shuffle pulled up. I liked it, so I made it into a blog. And now, here we are.
“Sleep Apnea”, Atmosphere
This is the closer to The Day Before Halloween. You know, I know I bought this album, and I listened to it, but I can’t really remember anything about it.
“Exit the Man With Nine Lives”, Foetus
Technically, this is by You’ve Got Foetus On Your Breath, as J.G. Thirlwell was changing the name of this project regularly. The first two albums were credited that way, this record (Ache) being the second. This stuff is really hard to describe, as it’s basically anarchic. Thirlwell used every sound he could get his hands on in assembling this. There’s the clattering percussion which was kind of a hallmark of his early work, and a certain theatricality to his vocals that also was persistent. But aside from that, it’s hard to really say what you’re getting. It’s all completely recognizable as his work, but it’s singular stuff. Later records would take more legible form, but early Foetus stuff is really one of one.
“One Way”, Spring Heeled Jack
There was this band and an electronic act named Spring Heel Jack operating at the same time. It was very confusing for a bit for a small number of record consumers, such as myself. Anyway, we’ve talked enough about ska in this one, moving on.
“The Chord”, Hard Girls
I forgot about this record! Shuffle is useful!
“Try & Try”, Mento Buru
OK, look, I’m sorry. This blog is over!
Josh, What Are You Doing Here?
I’m just writing about music. A structure like this blog helps me get my thoughts out, and it’s a way for me to explore my own music collection through various lenses. My sincere hope is that some folks out there find some new music they love. That’s all I’m up to. Sincere thanks to everybody who sends me feedback, with news that they’ve found a new favorite especially fun for me. There’s no monetization, no metrics, no ads, no promos, no nothing. Just some static web pages, some links, and my scribbling. If you want to support it, just shoot me a note! Thanks for reading.
Some Better Places To Learn About Music
Check these folks out, you’ll learn more for sure. In no particular order: To The Teeth, Wolf’s Week/Plague Rages, The Devil’s Mouth, Burning Ambulance, Lamniformes Cuneiform, Hex Records, See/Saw, Starkweather, Treble Magazine, The Quietus, Stereogum.