Things I didn’t think I would be saying in 2019: UK 2-tone ska legends The Specials are back with their new album Encore that was released a few days ago on Feb 1st. Encore marks their first studio album with singer Terry Hall in nearly 40 years since they released their second album More Specials. […]
The Interrupters – Fight The Good Fight
Well here’s something I haven’t said since 1998, but this year has been a surprisingly good year for ska. My latest ska obsession has been The Interrupters 3rd and latest studio album Fight The Good Fight. The female fronted Los Angeles four piece is comprised of Bivona brothers Kevin, Justin, and James featuring Aimee Interrupter […]
Hub City Stompers – Hater’s Dozen
Ska isn’t exactly dead, but it’s certainly been in critical condition on heavy life support for a number of years now. Just when you start thinking it might be time to pull the plug, it shows signs of life letting you know that it’s still kicking. The latest signs of life are from NJ’s Hub […]
Streetlight Manifesto Keasby Nights Show Live In Asbury Park (5/4/18)
There exists a few bands and albums that are considered sacred to us New Jersey punks who were teenagers around the time that Y2K was going to unleash the nukes and kill us all. The Bouncing Souls (obviously), Lifetime, and if you were one of the nerds who liked to flaunt the checkerboard pattern, Catch […]
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Pietasters live in Philly (7/28/17)
I had a bit of a dilemma the other day. Since I’m apparently a fucking moron I bought tickets to two different shows on the same day, not realizing I already bought tickets for a different show. Because of this, I was faced with a huge existentialist crisis… do I go see Western Addiction (who […]
Hub City Stompers, Hard Knocks Live In Philly (6/24/17)
On a warm Saturday night, I headed to South Philly dive Connie’s Ric Rac in order to catch NJ ska hooligans Hub City Stompers. I got to the venue, and the show was running hours late due to a bartender quitting or something, and thus everyone was locked out. Cool. Since I was in South […]
Punk Rock Bowling Day 1 – Live In Asbury (6/10/17)
On a hot June day, I headed out to Asbury Park, NJ to catch the east coast version of the infamous Vegas Punk bowling tournament at the Stone Pony outdoor summer stage. Sad to say (just like last year) that there isn’t any actual bowling that takes place anymore, there are a fuck ton of […]
Streetlight Manifesto Live In Philly (5/19/17)
As a ska-punk fan growing up in New Jersey during the early 2000s, Streetlight Manifesto was always one of my favorite bands back in the day, and if you’re familar with the genre you damn well know who Streetlight Manifesto is by now. I honestly think that Tomas Kalnoky is one of the most talented […]
Choking Victim, The Brood, Public Serpents Live In Philly (5/12/17)
Like most punk fans in their late 20s/early 30s, I’ve been a fan of the whole “crack rock steady” family of bands for a long time now. I’ve seen Leftover Crack, Morning Glory, Star Fucking Hipsters, etc but never got to actually see Choking Victim before…the closest being Leftover Crack playing “Infested” a few times […]
World Inferno Friendship Society, Hub City Stompers Live in NJ (4/2/17)
Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I’ve been a bit slow to post as I’m just starting to get back to work full time after an injury and am only allowed limited screen time, so it’s been difficult, but without further ado: As I stated in a previous post, I headed to my ancestral […]