Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Madness March 2025 - The Trojan War Finals (w/ Ska Punk International)
177 Plays23 days ago
The Trojan War concludes with the final week of classic Jamaican Ska! For both the semi-finals and finals, CPSC welcomes back long time collaborator and Ska Punk International proprietor, Chris Reeves! After he catches up the crew on the label and his thoughts about the bracket thus far, they eliminate 2 more songs to get the final 2 matchup. Who will take crown? Which song is truly the greatest Ska Standard of all time? PLUS: The Return of the Checkered Rob Invitational!
Spotify Playlist
Madness March predictions are closed! Follow the bracket here
Hosts: Celine, Rob and Joey
Engineer: Joey
Editor: Cutman
Theme Song by Keelan and Joey
Skassociate Producer: Chris Reeves of Ska Punk International
Special Thanks: Mega Michi and Adam the Ska Mailman
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Show Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
In the spring of 2025 came classic Scott Edmonton. Checker Pass took the music from the genre and put it to the pod, and came up with this bracket and called it Hep he hep Hep Hep The Trojan War!
00:00:12
Speaker
two three
00:00:19
Speaker
Oh, radio, what the fuck you do in your life these days?
00:00:29
Speaker
What the fuck you doing with yourself? Oh, what the fuck you doing with your life these days? Oh, what the fuck you doing with yourself?
00:00:53
Speaker
What up, Checkerheads? Welcome to Checker Past This Godcast with Celine and Rob. The show are uptown top ranking full stop, and ah you're wondering, hey now, what's going on with him? Explore the history and impact of a different band each episode.
00:01:04
Speaker
Hope to bring in new fans along the way. I'm me, poor Rob, and this is my sister and co-host, lady vocal sometimes, Celine. fact You changed it up those die like that? I had fun.
00:01:16
Speaker
Lady vocals sometimes. I was already sick of the whole one. I can't do it again. Lady vocals sometimes is a hit. It's really got people thinking. It's caught on. It's really got people thinking.
00:01:30
Speaker
It's opened up an important conversation. I was writing the next episode we're going to do, and I'm like, lady vocals sometimes. like yeah Oh, wow.
Co-hosts & Guest Introduction
00:01:42
Speaker
And this is our co-host at the most host, Smokin' the Weed Joey. Yeah. Excellent. No, I i heard a TH in there, Rob. I don't believe there's a TH. Da weed. It's Smokin' Da Weed.
00:01:55
Speaker
okay. I'm sorry, Joey. I'm sorry to ruin your name like that. Thank Would you ever forgive me? no I'm going to keep photoshopping you as Judge Dredd forever.
00:02:08
Speaker
I want to know how many people have picked up on that. Like nobody has said a word. This is just something we said to each other that we're just like, okay, it's always going to be Judge Dredd because that's funny. But I don't think anybody has noticed.
00:02:22
Speaker
Imagine if we just did, like, what if we were just shitty? a bracket double-share friends. Well, no, what if we just, like, had no i idea and were like, whoa, we can photos sheve Photoshop ourselves on people of color? I don't see anything wrong with that.
00:02:34
Speaker
What if we just, like, doubled down and, like, that was our thing? Just went for it. Yeah. I don't want to. but This is a way better bit. What if we were? this is a way better bit, and it's challenging every week.
00:02:48
Speaker
You only got to do it one more time, Joey. you you're all you know You're almost in the clear now. i know. and And I've actually had ah the the last one Like from the first week, I was like, that's what I'm using for the last one.
00:03:00
Speaker
Always. Every time I've like set up like the brackets in the past and I had to like think about those, I always figure out what the last one is first because I'm like, got to make sure goes out with a bang. Because it's the best one. you're There's always one where you look at and you're like, that one immediately. And you're like, no, ah got to wait. Got to save it. yeah We have four or five of these things we have to do. ah Resist the urge, right? You got to like yes save it for when it's when it matters most.
00:03:23
Speaker
but yeah We have a very special guest with us today. he is the ah owner of Proprietor, I don't know what the title is, and of Skypunk International, and he's our Sky Associate Producer.
00:03:37
Speaker
It's Chris Reeves! He's back! mirror bur bur bo Hey, it's me, I'm here. Has it been a year already, Chris? You know, I don't think so. Oh, actually, maybe it has. Yeah.
00:03:48
Speaker
yeah That's crazy. Really? You might be once again confusing yourself with other yeah my people who've been on the show. Yeah. i Some friends of mine have been on the show, but I think I haven't been on in like over a year since Rx Bandits, right?
00:04:01
Speaker
ah Last year.
Song Brackets Strategy & Debate
00:04:03
Speaker
What's it? Rx Bandits was two years ago. wow yeah That's a lot of episodes. um Yeah, I guess it has been a while. 200 in a couple days.
00:04:14
Speaker
Or was I, I was on the, um no, I guess I wasn't on the SPI Fest episode. No, you weren't there. No, I wasn't. You weren't there, but you haven't been around. Yeah, huh. Weird. Well, it's my first bracket episode. That's cool.
00:04:31
Speaker
That's crazy. Whoa, that is nuts. Wow. It was funny because i was just like, hey, Chris, can you think of anyone who would want to do this? And you're like, yeah, me. Yeah. yeah And to be honest, now that I'm here, i'm like, why did I put myself in this position? They're going to be real pissy me, I think.
00:04:50
Speaker
<unk>m I'm excited because you were one of the people that whose bracket when I looked at it and I'm like, what? so i got yeah got we have totally different views about these songs that's for sure honestly there if you look through the predictions it's like everybody's all over the map a couple of people have it in common but for the most part it's all over the place and yeah i got called pretty early that people have really strong opinions about this yeah i mean I guess we'll see how strong my opinions really are when they start to come out. But for the most part, I just felt like, okay, I'm going to pick the songs I like more.
00:05:27
Speaker
And turns out nobody feels the same way except for Scott Morphsuit was kind of on the same page as me. kind but Justice for red, red wine. but Well, y'all can share headphones.
00:05:39
Speaker
yeah cor One earbud in each. Yeah, one earbud. Yeah, and next time Deb and I share a car... somewhere cause we weren't with Bex from, ah from Joystick and million other bands.
00:05:56
Speaker
ah Bex drove me and Dev to Fest, picked us up in New Jersey. And so we like road trip together for like a few hours. So next time we do that, we're just going to sit in the back and listen to Redwood Wine. and and they'll We'll both be happy.
00:06:12
Speaker
yep Was that your your biggest or most egregious error? Redwood Wine for you? I thought it was a another one that you were really mad at. I mean, there's might many, to be honest, because the the first round, I think, is like completely opposite for me.
00:06:30
Speaker
Redwood Wine I had winning it all because I think it's the best song that was in here. But I don't understand what you're doing with Uptown Taunt Raking. I don't understand what you're doing with Silver Down.
00:06:40
Speaker
yeah I get super down. I don't get the uptown. I do i get it. That song is incredible. Uptown whatever. you say On some days I might think it's better than Uptown top ranking, which is why I had that those two at the end.
00:06:56
Speaker
But I just felt like, okay, well, this is a ska thing. So I went with Red Red Wine. But Uptown Ton Ranking is like an old time jam. It's so good. They're all old time jams. don't agree with that. i je okay well like Some of the ones that even we're going to talk about today, I don't even think are all time jams.
Ska Punk International Projects
00:07:15
Speaker
Yeah, but when you listen to them in the moment. Which one? Well, whatever. We'll get to it. We'll get to that. We'll wait for that. Now, i think what you didn't realize is that Celine was sober for half of brown woman. I know. When that happened, when I was listening,
00:07:30
Speaker
And when she was like, i'm going to take a break. I'll be back. Like, oh, this is going to get worse for me. but So why you agree with me more sober and less when I'm high? no it turned out uh well let's see let's look at i have it pulled up here people seem to be happier when i was high for the record i i i had to do right by my boy chip and i had a few hoots before and so so i got the same i got four right in the first half and four right in the second half so it kind of didn't matter okay it it was giving nooch
00:08:05
Speaker
Yeah, it didn't matter. Okay. It didn't matter. te When I was listening like in real time, it's like, oh, this is going to fix it. And it didn't. It didn't matter. ah good Now what? Now we're because Because Redwood Wine was in the second half. I was like, all right.
00:08:24
Speaker
long as that
Jamaican Ska History & Song Criteria
00:08:25
Speaker
survives, I might be okay. And it didn't. Maybe she'll be in the scar pocket. Yeah. Yeah. scalpar Yeah. I don't know. it Yeah.
00:08:36
Speaker
I think Uptown, Simmerdown and Redwine are the three biggest ones for me, but I don't understand some of the ones that keep surviving. That we'll get to, but ah keep surviving.
00:08:52
Speaker
Are you happy about anything that's in the top four? a Monkey Man. Okay. That's the only one. i felt fine about and feel fine about Monkey Man. um Yeah. What's the other one?
00:09:05
Speaker
What's the other matchup? it's capone bonus can hit yeah i feel fine about al capone but okay i'm not as into the other two and telegraphing stuff but we'll see how the moment strikes me maybe i'll change my mind based on because we listened to the end today right yes yeah yeah maybe that'll change my mind we'll see yeah you gotta be in the moment that we should have put on like is there one that wasn't on the bracket that should have been on there Yeah, I'm with you on Pressure Drop.
00:09:34
Speaker
And for me, i don't think I would have even done Israelites from Desmond Decker. He has like five or six better songs. They won't. 007 is better for sure. Yeah, 007, Nincompoop. Here's what I have liked from Desmond Decker on Spotify.
00:09:52
Speaker
Many Rivers, Unity, Young Generation, Fu Manchu, Nincompoop. You know what's not liked? Israelites. and Or ITMEC or 007 Shantytown.
00:10:03
Speaker
Yeah. None of the hits. I'm saying. my My taste is clearly not where everybody else is, but I would have paid for how i feel i would have picked a different Desmond Decker than Israelites. I think that I just, I don't know. We'll talk about it more when it's time, I guess. but Yeah. You might sing in a different tune. I really thought that would be Dead in the Water much earlier. Whoa.
00:10:32
Speaker
That's wild. I thought Edith High was going to beat that. I think that's better. You Tide is High is better than Israelites? Yes. Tide is High is boring. It's a little too... It's too everywhere. too everywhere. Let's just talk about it because I think Israelites is boring.
00:10:48
Speaker
i have heard it way less in my life than tide is High. every time he so maybe not less boring, but just more in the zeitgeist so you've heard it more. Yeah.
00:10:59
Speaker
ah Well, yeah, but you've not heard that version, right? You've heard the so other one. Blondie. Yeah, Blondie. It's all everywhere. Well, either way, for me, anytime you go anywhere and there's like ska DJ, they're going to play as your lights at some point. And I don't.
00:11:14
Speaker
think that's an old tower I guess your life, I'm like, I don't have ska DJs in my life very often, if ever. Like, I can count it on one hand. Yeah. yeah So before we get into actual bracket, let's get the listener caught up.
00:11:30
Speaker
What's new in the life of ska punk international that people want to know? Well, since we haven't done this in a year, we've put out a bunch of stuff that hopefully you'll go back and check out.
00:11:43
Speaker
Because frankly, a lot of our stuff didn't do as well as I thought it would last year. So we have a lot of copies of shit that I'd like people to buy. Please. Yeah. God damn it. Buy them. It's good music to buy. Yeah. Lots of good stuff from last year.
00:11:56
Speaker
um let's see. We just announced the K-Moi vinyl. You just had Kaylee on, so I don't really need to talk about that. It's not sold out yet, though. So. grab that. That'll be here pretty soon. Week or so.
00:12:08
Speaker
With a cool book. Yeah. The lyric book is insane. What Ange and Sophia put together is just like totally bonkers. Yeah. Um, Let's see. What else can I talk about?
00:12:21
Speaker
ah There's a new Buena Suerte single coming out pretty soon. so Watch for that. um Because this comes out in just a couple days, right? That should be later this week or next week. um So watch for that.
00:12:34
Speaker
a Yeah. don't know. Mostly we're just moving and grooving. Tons of cool shit from you mostly artists you already know for this year.
00:12:48
Speaker
and We announced a couple things like the Femmes were doing their record. Ooh, Femme on Later this year. um They're new to the family, but we already announced that.
00:13:02
Speaker
And I think there's one more that's new, but everyone else that's coming out are things we've already done. So they're second time around. And hopefully that means great things for everybody. yeah Should we do brackets?
00:13:13
Speaker
We're ready to do this thing. Yeah, let's do in there. Yeah, I'm ready to crush some dreams. yeah This is Madness March. All month long we are doing a March Madness style bracket to pit 32 classic Jamaican ska songs in head-to-head battle to determine once and for all the greatest ska standard of all time.
00:13:30
Speaker
Thanks for everyone who voted in their predictions. You can follow along the bracket at challenge.com. shalo show You just can't do it. You can't do it. <unk> very Slash the Trojan war.
00:13:42
Speaker
The matchups are based on whatever. i just kind of randomized it. Here's how it's going to work. Today is the semifinals and the finals. That's it. We're getting to the end ah with our very special guest, Chris Reeves.
00:13:52
Speaker
If you haven't done so already back, ah go back and check the pre-show plus rounds one, two, and three. For the semifinals, we are just listening to the final minute of the song. And for the finals, we are listening to the whole shebang.
00:14:03
Speaker
There will be a bonus tournament for the Checkered Rob Invitational. Ooh. Checkered Rob Invitational. So what is Jamaican Ska? I can't believe it took us three years to talk about it. It was formed in Jamaica in the late 1950s by combining the local sounds of mento and calypso with the R&B and jump blues imported by American soldiers in the aftermath of World War II.
00:14:24
Speaker
Thanks to DJs and sound system operators such as Prince Buster, Cox and Dodd, and Duke Reed, the style was brought to the forefront by hiring local musicians to create a style that was definitively Jamaican, which coincided with the liberation of the country from the English in the early nineteen sixty s This culminated in the release of Millie Small's My Boy Lollipop in 1964 that exploded internationally becoming Jamaica's first commercially successful song.
00:14:46
Speaker
Studios on Orange Street such as Studio One and Treasure became hotspots for local bands to record. With slower soul music becoming more popular in the US, the ska sound slowed to create Rocksteady in the late 1960s before slowing further to the more African-forward reggae by the nineteen seventy s Many Jamaicans began immigrating to the UK in the 1960s, including the legendary Duke Reed, who founded Trojan Records and imported numerous Jamaican releases that exploded in popularity, creating the crossover hits that we we're talking about today.
00:15:14
Speaker
Hence why we're calling this the Trojan War. Joey, do you remember what are the three things you're looking for in a classic Jamaican ska song? ah Piano?
00:15:27
Speaker
Yeah. ah Harmonies? Nope. Nope. Dang it. What the hell was it? got piano. He got one. Grooves in the heart. Grooves in the heart. and the heart Yes.
00:15:39
Speaker
Piano, grooves in the heart. I don't remember what the third one is. i never remember Hooks. Hooks. Yeah. that's That's almost like harms. Hooks, harms. They're similar.
00:15:50
Speaker
Nice try.
00:15:53
Speaker
Celine, what about you? um lady vocals sometimes obviously obviously obviously that's the shirt yeah but we're that's gone that worked out great yeah yeah i tried i fucking tried i'm pretty sure i went for my boy law sometimes maybe i did i don't remember what i voted for and then a little grit or whatever A little grit, right? That's exactly it. And then what? I don't know.
00:16:21
Speaker
The fucking, oh, not all white people. Not all white people. Which is also gone, right? Yeah. Yeah. And then i don't know. Checked off. This one's checked off.
00:16:31
Speaker
Oh, checked off. chuck Right. We're on it. You completed that one. Yeah. We just have only white people. Achievement unlocked. yeah There are no more white people. um No effects will be happy. you a
00:16:49
Speaker
i don't know. I had one more catchy. I don't know. Yeah. You just said catchy. Yeah. Yeah. I said i prefer the instrumentals.
00:17:00
Speaker
I like it to be more on the ska rock steady vibe. And I like it when it sounds like shit, shitty production. I'm all in. Yeah. Chris Reeves. What about yourself? Hmm.
00:17:11
Speaker
probably should have thought of this beforehand. So let's four fuck this way let's real time it. um ah like I like the gritty, shitty production.
00:17:22
Speaker
I don't like it to be super clean. um I don't prefer instrumental. I prefer like nice vocal hooks. yeah um I guess I don't dislike instrumental, but I prefer vocal hooks. and That's the point, right? What I prefer.
00:17:42
Speaker
um and don't know. I'm trying to think of the things that throughout that was like, I don't like this. like I don't like strings. like I do like strings, but I don't know if that's one of my three.
00:17:53
Speaker
And that's also not super relevant anymore. Yeah, K-Moi had a hard no-string policy. Yeah, i'm i'm I'm into it. It's not like ah I need it, though, but I like it, though. Those songs that Kaylee, and I think Kavi was doing it, too, or shitting on, I like those songs. like I think that it's more like cinematic. I think that's cool.
00:18:14
Speaker
Yeah. But those all kind of had bigger hooks. Yeah, I was going to say, and higher production value, which is contradictory to your other thing. That's true, but I think that you should... Whatever, I don't know. So you're a fucking hypocrite. Yeah, I guess I am, man.
00:18:32
Speaker
I guess I am, man. i You know what? I was playing Phoenix Wright last night. Sorry, I'm like picking apart your statement. Objection! yeah Hold it.
00:18:43
Speaker
um I don't know. I don't know what the third one is. i don't i don't know. You'll think about it. I like hooks. I like somewhat grimy production, and that's all I got right now. This has got to be catchy yeah and sound like shit.
00:18:56
Speaker
um Okay, let's do it. First matchup. Recorded in 1964, it's a straight-up ska song written and toasted by Prince Buster, backed by the Baba Brooks Band for the Blue Beat label.
00:19:07
Speaker
Peaked at number 18 in the UK a full three years after its release. This is Al Capone by Prince Buster.
00:19:24
Speaker
How do you feel about all that toasting, Chris? I mean, I do love a toast. The main thing I like about this one is that mostly for this part of the song, it's just him toasting and Al Capone!
00:19:37
Speaker
Yeah, what else do you need? I mean, I prefer there was a little bit more of a hook, but I get it. I do like this one. that is That is a hook, though. Like, what about when he spells it out?
00:19:48
Speaker
I feel like when we're doing that. I love spelling. A-L-C-A-B-O-N-E. Kabone. do love spelling. I think you were discussing in past ones about, like, is this one going to have the same impact if it weren't for the specials? And I do not think so. who Whoa. i don't I don't think so.
00:20:10
Speaker
I think if they didn't really pop off, the song would not be as important to people. But it did. i think Buster in general owes a lot of his popularity to everybody in the two-tone scene just copying his music. Exactly. they yeah But there's a reason they were copying his music.
00:20:29
Speaker
Because it was good. That's also true. my yeah Why would they prop up bad music? Yeah, no, I'm not even saying it's bad. I'm saying it would have been way more niche. I don't think it would have like the devotion that it does if it weren't for that stuff is all I'm Maybe that's fair because like if you go back and listen to like other less known ah um Prince Buster songs like Judge Dredd, like it's just as good, but you're like, it's not as iconic, if that makes sense. Yeah. And it's iconic because because of the specials, what it brought the other ones. That's interesting. Yeah.
00:21:05
Speaker
That's my opinion. Like it's the same in terms of like the other question. Yeah. Well, yeah, but I mean, it's the same idea as like there are songs that take off because they've been sampled by some like super big hip hop song.
00:21:20
Speaker
Like, well, then there's a reason that nobody knew it before. like right. Doesn't mean it's not a great song, but it popped off because suddenly it got super popular over here.
00:21:31
Speaker
It's going up against. Recorded in 1970 in the UK, it's a more overt skinhead reggae reworking of Derek Morgan's Moonhop and a celebration of early 70s skinhead culture.
00:21:42
Speaker
Failed to chart but was reissued later after being covered by the specials. Hit number 54 in the UK singles chart. This is Skinhead Moonstomp by Simmerip. do you ever go to your friend's house and the lean just ain't no good?
00:21:56
Speaker
just have Robitussin instead of the magazine? The Robitussin's soggy, the chicken tastes like wood. That'd be funny to like, remix that song, but just like, slightly modernize the lyrics.
00:22:11
Speaker
This is a- what do you- how do you feel, Chris, about this? I don't like this song. Whoa! That's wild. It mostly comes down to, I realize that, I don't remember which episode it was, but you were like, I feel not great about the skinhead thing. Yeah. And that kind of clicked it for me, like, yeah, that's what it is. I picture skinheads enjoying it too much. Yeah, yeah. And that kind of wrecks it. You just know skinheads love this, and they love that there's song that says skinhead. Yeah, and that makes me feel real bad.
00:22:46
Speaker
And I've said it before, there was a meme that just said, like, what if the Ku Klux Klan, what if someone started dressing like the Ku Klux Klan and was like, well, like, in the 1940s or 50s, it actually was different. It's like, you can't, it's too late. It's too late.
00:23:02
Speaker
Yeah. And even if you want to take that aside, because really it's just an instrumental song. Yeah. You want to take the title away? i don't love, like, all the random noises and all the, like,
00:23:14
Speaker
All the little guitar sounds. stuff I don't love that. I don't like it. It makes me want to like scratch up a wall. Oh, but you and then you're like, what is the song called?
00:23:26
Speaker
I don't love that either. I don't. I'm not a fan. Oh, no. Interesting. Really, this is two different versions of an instrumental with a toast over top.
00:23:39
Speaker
yeah Either you got the chick chicks with just like random words or you got the guy just like like freestyling the whatever sentence comes to his head. guess in my mind, a Scott standard like is that it's like an instrumental with some toasting on top.
00:23:59
Speaker
Yeah. And so that's what these two Which is weird because usually you put stuff on the toast. That's true. Joey would know because he's the co-host of The Most Toast. Yeah, I have so much of it I need to know. Legally, you have the most.
00:24:11
Speaker
Yeah. Legally. Objections. Objections. So it would stand to reason that you've put the most on the toast as well. Well, yeah, I need to use it. Like I have so much toast that I just, that's all of our flooring in our house is toast.
00:24:27
Speaker
Yeah. So all of our furniture is on the toast. Sometimes when I ask him to toast in the band, he says, I'm too busy. so I don't know if he has the most toast.
00:24:37
Speaker
Ouch. its been i you know Because it's true. Yeah, the other truth hurts, man. Well, wait a minute. If he has the most, does he need more? Does he need to put more out there? I think he has enough.
00:24:49
Speaker
yeah Diminishing returns. No, don't give him this. Yes, give me this. Give me this. No. I would love to hear a Joey toast, though. ah He's too busy. You can't. Too busy. Too busy. Maybe you can like sell off some toast so you have some space.
00:25:07
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Open up for some more toast. We could get somebody else to play bass for a moment while I give out some of my toast.
00:25:16
Speaker
I was just thinking you could just offload some of it on Toast Cogs, whatever Toast Cogs. Toast Cogs. Yeah, Post Cogs. Not bad. Not great.
00:25:28
Speaker
I'm just going to snap go to set up a store. So much toastify is pretty good. No, it's Toastify is not good. It's as good toast cocks. That's what we're doing. This episode is sponsored by Toastify.
00:25:40
Speaker
Put in the code MOSTTOAST for 20% off your next order. 20% would be huge, huge podcast. put in there code ah most toast and for twenty percent off your next order and twenty percent would be a huge huge bi You want to get rid of the toast or not?
00:25:59
Speaker
That's true. yeah How are we voting? I know I'm voting. I'm locked in. This didn't change my mind at all. I've been locked in. yeah you' gonna me too Yeah. I'm i'm good. yeah I kind of went in with a thought.
00:26:10
Speaker
Three, two, one. um Guns don't argue. who It's so good. Shot a skinhead. i'll do
00:26:24
Speaker
Damn. R.I.P. skinheads. The skinheads are gone. They're gone. They're gone. they Now we gotta talk about the Rudys though. Skinheads are gone. Rudys are here. Because the next matchup is recorded in 1969. It's a track about a spurned love in toots amalgamated style.
00:26:43
Speaker
Hit number 47 on the UK charts was covered by everyone from the specials to Amy Winehouse to Real Big Fish. This is a Monkey Man. I,
00:26:56
Speaker
So this is Rocksteady on Rocksteady. Monkey Man versus Israelites. That's fun.
00:27:03
Speaker
The only thing I would say about this is I think almost every cover is better than this original version. don't think a real big fish one. Even No Doubt one?
00:27:14
Speaker
I don't know if I've heard the No Doubt one, but... Yeah, because like it to be a little bit faster, and even Ruby Fish played a little bit faster. They do. This version, when when we went back to like do the bracket and listen to the playlist, I forgot how long it takes to get to the the good part.
00:27:32
Speaker
like get to the monkey man? So many of the covers just like... give you a couple of the core, the intro, and then you're just right into the aye-aye-yes. And that's what we want. There's been a couple times Joey's done it for karaoke. I don't know if it works as a karaoke song. People are having fun. People are having fun. I feel like it could work. Because Monkey Man is perfect.
00:27:51
Speaker
It's like gang vocally, you know? Yeah, it's like a perfect song in the middle of a set of a band that's playing after like three or four bands. That's true. yeah And then like everyone just like goes nuts for a Monkey Man.
00:28:05
Speaker
like it's ah It's like a kick kick-ass festival song. like If your band is playing a festival, just toss Monkey Man in the middle of your set and it's like a guaranteed fucking home run. The pit is empty.
00:28:18
Speaker
You're like, I gotta get people back in the pit. Yeah, that's why Corrados have Monkey Man in their pocket. They'll literally pull that move. They need it. They're like set in the middle of like a lineup of five or six bands or whatever.
00:28:31
Speaker
Yeah, I dropped that and suddenly everything just like jumps off. I've seen it happen. It's perfect. Hell yeah. yeah I don't know about that no doubt version. I can't speak on that though. That is bothering me a little bit that that exists. I didn't know that I've been chomping at the BIC to talk about Gwen Stefani. Let's do it. ah scar Just like real quick.
00:28:52
Speaker
the she was you're been Yeah, because you're like in the the i mean I've watched several video essays on it. do it she like I've been thinking about it Are you aware that she's promoting Tucker Carlson's prayer app?
00:29:06
Speaker
And there's like a video of her with like ashes on her forehead. She's like for Ash Wednesday, wednesday like blah blah, blah, blah, blah. So she's just like full trad wife, blah, blah, blah. But I, a lot of people are like, oh, our punk rock queen is lost.
00:29:21
Speaker
She's always been that way. That's always been who she is. And we're just seeing who she truly is. She's made what's-his-face more religious. Really? Yes. Like, she's the one. And she's leaned deeper into her religion. And she's leaned deeper. And I feel like the whole, like, feminist... Like, she was basically like, oh, I'm gonna be in this band. And it's, like, fun.
00:29:44
Speaker
but I actually just want to be married and have kids. Like she's said that this entire time. like her brother was the one that liked the music. And he's like, yeah. in this bad And then he was like, fuck this. I'm not saying she didn't like, like the music, music genuinely and enjoyed yeah yeah party of the sea genuinely. Like, I think she did, but I think like, it's like kind of a interesting spotlight on, I think a lot of like alternative people and maybe even alternative women,
00:30:10
Speaker
like the rockabilly ska girls, I do think there's like a trad wife connection there, obviously. Like the aesthetic is it. And the feminist punk rock girl was kind of like put on her and then she embraced it. then it was always rooted in like all the issues that have been discussed and followed her, the cultural appropriation everything. Like she is just, she's been doing that. Like she's been doing it. She's been doing it. also just, years you can't trust millionaires, kill rock stars, slaughter the slaker cow. like yeah Like, I don't know.
00:30:42
Speaker
just they're they're never going to be They're never going to share your ideals. but Chris, it sounds like you've been thinking about it too. i mean i would it's You said basically like she's kind of always sucked. like yeah Yeah, I think that's the thing. There's an article going around that's that's the headline. It's like Gwen has always sucked.
00:31:01
Speaker
um yeah It's one of those things i where you're like not totally wanting to buy it Like, yeah you know, in like, I don't know, 2003, 2004, 2005 or whatever.
00:31:13
Speaker
Be like, yeah, that's not great that she's wearing that or whatever the fuck. But has a harem of Harajuku girls or whatever. Yeah, that's you'd be like, that's not great.
00:31:24
Speaker
But maybe she's just clueless. But no, it's you you just keep looking at the evidence like, oh, yeah, she's always been kind of the worst. And then the easiest way to be like, that's true.
00:31:36
Speaker
is almost as quickly as they could, the rest of the band distance themselves from her. Right. Yeah. Obviously that guy, they got paid pretty well to do the Coachella stuff and yeah they're not stupid. They're not the ones that are making the music is good.
00:31:51
Speaker
Yeah. They're not the, yeah, right. I do. I like no doubt songs. I like a lot of them, but, um the rest of the band doesn't make money like her. So obviously they're going to say yes to that. Right. And I don't blame them. Yeah, of course not.
00:32:02
Speaker
yeah Yeah, of course. So I mean, that's because I've seen a few places where they're like, we all love it Tony. Exactly. We all love Tony. Adrian. yeah Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I've seen a few places being like, oh yeah, but they just like reunited. Like, no, she's not that bad. Like, well, that's,
00:32:19
Speaker
It's kind of not the point here. Yeah. um For me, it's just like a larger thing. It's just like another example of someone that kind of like became like bigger than our scene and came from the scene, but obviously didn't fully buy into everything about the scene. And so it's sort of like...
00:32:39
Speaker
I was going to say, to Celine's point too, like a lot of the wildest, craziest punk rock guys you knew when you were 22 or 23 are now 40, and they're all trades guys or whatever, living at home. You know what I mean? like it they they They too have gone the traditional. You know what I mean? like it's ah it's That's like a common thing in the scene, I feel like. Well, there is ah something saying that the OC scene had a little bit more conservatism to it. I don't know, because just because of like wealth.
00:33:07
Speaker
yeah tip Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:33:12
Speaker
whatever a little bit more well off therefore yeah but i mean in general and it's happening even more now because of who's in charge here, at least in the US.
00:33:25
Speaker
But in general, the old adage is that you become more conservative as you get older because you have more like things to think about. Maybe ideally you've made some more money or whatever, like the American dream kind of thing. Yeah. it' So like someone like me or other people that we know are in their 40s or older that actually still lean left and and in many ways got more left as they got older. Yeah, more left. yeah That's a rarity actually.
00:33:52
Speaker
So it's not that weird that she became more conservative as she got older and made more money and made more money. Totally. But yeah, it doesn't change the fact that the signs have always been there.
00:34:04
Speaker
Right. For sure. And it also doesn't change the fact that kind of sucks. Yeah, it definitely sucks. Like it absolutely sucks. Like from all indications, the rest of her band are cool. And they actually did believe the stuff of like all the bands they're influenced and like,
00:34:22
Speaker
ah they did all these cool covers of things like madness during Coachella. Like, It's not like Madness was standing up for a ton of stuff, but they were standing a little bit on things. yeah Yeah. That clearly doesn't come from Gwen. That comes from the rest of the band. All right. back yeah Back to this.
00:34:39
Speaker
It's going up against. Released in 1968, it is a ska rock steady monster hit about Decker's favorite topic, Rude Boys. It is the first Jamaican ska to hit number one in the UK, spurring an interest in reggae and ska in the country, and even hit number nine in the US. s This is Israelites by Desmond Decker.
00:34:58
Speaker
The morning's taking a breath, sir. So that the. It's pretty good. pretty good. It's pretty great. Is it? yeah Yeah. Yeah, it's great. It's a really good song. catchy.
00:35:12
Speaker
Is it? We're telling you it is, Chris. Yes. I'm telling you I don't believe it. I don't know why we voted out. I keep thinking about Simmer Down.
00:35:24
Speaker
yeah my dear good And how you let it get destroyed. Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:33
Speaker
I mean, you gave Simmerdown the boot for the skinheads, which ah feel pretty bad about. That's a pretty good pun. That was a pretty good pun. I think I felt bad about it at the time. I'm sure I felt bad about it the time. You should still feel bad about it.
00:35:48
Speaker
ah We should be talking about Simmerdown today. ah yeah We are. Heard. I should be listening to Simmerdown right now. ah Actually, you should be you should have listened to it instead of Skinhead.
00:36:03
Speaker
Yes, that's right. Yeah, it would have made it. It would have made it just as far. ah So it's Monkey Man and Israel. I know how I'm voting. I do too. I'm going to get outvoted though. do you i don't feel great about it but i i feel i gotta go with my feelings i'm locked in yeah i'm lockin i'm going with my feelings too yeah yeah three two one monkey man monkey brand is really oh man yeah here's the thing chris and if you've listened to previous episodes you know israelites is a great song but it has one big problem joey what's that problem it's not monkey man it's not monkey man I just didn't think that that would stay true when it came up against a zero light. i really i still have a problem it's not much glad
00:36:49
Speaker
I'm so glad. Well, that's something. Yeah, that's great. The world is a little bit brighter right now. So that's the finals. we yeah We'll circle back to it. I think about Simmerdown a lot.
00:37:06
Speaker
I do. I do think about Simmerdown lot. Because every time we do it, I'm like, we're Simmerdown. i just i don't know. Rob had a really good story about like when you're at a vinyl and like everyone always puts it on. And I was just like picturing like a small club and like listening to on vinyl with other people. And I'm like,
00:37:25
Speaker
yeah but That could be true of literally all of these songs. Yeah, I know, but Rob had a nice story. Yeah, that I could tell you that story about Uptown Top Ranking. She should go back in time and tell the story. She's been there. ah Alright, let's take a break.
00:37:41
Speaker
And when we get back, it's the Checkered Rob Invitational and the finals. Yeah, that's exciting.
00:37:57
Speaker
Welcome back to Checkered Past. We're here with Skypunk International's Chris Reeves. And we're about to hit into the finals of the Trojan War. But before we do that, it's time for the Checkered Rob Invitational.
00:38:10
Speaker
And every year we do a bonus bracket. This time around, instead of it being ive the first version of this was going to be songs that people were pissed didn't make it. But then right I decided that's boring.
00:38:24
Speaker
to something. There you Here comes Rob being the worst. Yep. One thing to know about the four songs that were in the finals, in the semifinals, is that they were all covered by the specials.
00:38:36
Speaker
So we're going figure out which of the which one did the specials do best. So Joey, if you may, play number one on the Checkered Rob Invitational podcast.
00:38:57
Speaker
Oh, wait. Are these two matchups or we're just picking one of the four? Okay. out Well, I mean, we're going to play all of them in, but it is supposed to be matchup. Okay.
00:39:10
Speaker
But I like your idea, actually. No, I'm changing it. We're to play all four and then we're one of the four. Wow. Okay. That's wild. You changed mind. I was just making sure I understood what I was listening for. Yeah. You made it better. Now you know. Good punch up Chris.
00:39:26
Speaker
It's so fun. It's not exactly Al Capone, but it is Al Capone. It's a little scary. It's a little scary. It's spooky, for sure. they They spooked it up more than the original was.
00:39:38
Speaker
I mean, they're a pretty spooky band. Yeah. They had skeletons on cover of that single. Playing piano is that spooky. Every time I hear a little like random guitar lead, I know that it's Roddy Radiation, and I know he's doing it because he doesn't know how to play style guitar.
00:39:57
Speaker
Yep. Which is the funniest thing about him.
00:40:01
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, he plays some really iconic stuff, and it's simply because he didn't know how to do the ah the rhythm. Yeah, which is what Linville Golding was there for. When you think about the band as a whole and just like how it's just people...
00:40:15
Speaker
Basically making up what they think they're supposed to do because they but had no idea. Only like half of them actually knew what they were supposed to do. That's every band. Yeah, that's all. bad My band. I'm the only one who doesn't know what I'm doing. So Martin makes it all up and then we do, we do this up.
00:40:35
Speaker
Okay. So that was Al Capone, AKA gangsters. And next up is skinhead. Moonstomp play number two, please. Joey.
00:40:46
Speaker
from the Special AKA Live, the Skinhead Symphony. Hey all you skinheads, try to find a different style. It makes people feel uncomfortable around you.
00:41:00
Speaker
ah you ready? you ready to leave? Yeah. Stop stopping! Holy shit, that's fast.
00:41:14
Speaker
Femboy, you should do a version of this song. Call it like... Lady vocals sometimes stomp. No, I was going to say skinhead hair, bro. You know? It's okay to be bald.
00:41:28
Speaker
up The bald isn't the problem. Call it the bald stomp. It's okay to be tattooed and bald. okay Okay to be bald stomp. Bald but not a skinhead stomp.
00:41:39
Speaker
Yeah. alternative bald stomp. what How would you describe the sound of a pair of vans hitting the ground? it's not really a stomp, it's like a flap.
00:41:50
Speaker
Like the moon flap. hit Bald head moon flap. There you go. It's the sound of the slow degradation of your back. Yes, that's exactly what it is. It's one of the most old people things i've ever said.
00:42:07
Speaker
Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha.
00:42:11
Speaker
That can't be true. Yeah, that's probably true. You've said older things. Yeah, just yesterday was talking to my wife about how important Steely Dan are, and that's probably worse. Yeah, that's it. Oh, you and Eichlers. You and I can throw down on the Steely Dan.
00:42:30
Speaker
But it's not just it's My soft rock goes real deep. doesn't It doesn't stop just the Steely Dan. Real deep. Yeah.
00:42:41
Speaker
I like when song so fast that it just um i like when a song goes so fast that it just falls apart to just playing two notes really fast but when it just turns into a two note punk song because it's going so fast that the entire riff disappears that's fun i like that so again i know i've punched that that ep up a lot in the past but it's three songs it's too much too young guns of navarone and then the skinhead symphony which is liquidator long shot kick the bucket and skinhead moonstomp
00:43:16
Speaker
uh and it's incredible and they play all those songs like super duper fast and it's great highly recommend everybody listen to it one of the most perfect eps ever made um yeah that's me calling it and just that's straight okay told listener monkey man is next the monkey man great the d monkey man
00:43:43
Speaker
as featured on the special's self-titled record. Monkey Man.
00:44:04
Speaker
See, they get right into it. Yeah, they get right in that. They're not wasting any time. It's... It is the better version. I will concur with you on that, Chris. It doesn't take anything away from the original. It's just it gets into the the meat faster and it it is faster. so two To quote past guest Esteban, it shows its whole dick.
00:44:33
Speaker
yep
00:44:35
Speaker
Chris, what do you got that cup? What are you drinking there? water Diet Dr. Pepper. dp It's a purple cup and it just makes me think you're just drinking a big old grape Kool-Aid. No, I'll be vulnerable and I'll be real about it.
00:44:53
Speaker
I got McDonald's for lunch. Yum. Hell yeah. And they don't have my preferred Coke Zero. I always get Diet Dr. Pepper there. Right.
00:45:04
Speaker
But I didn't want to show up with a McDonald's cup, so I poured it in this cup. Listen, no judgment. how do you know Anti-capitalism. i started feeling self-conscious about it, so i was like, no, I'm going to pour it in this cup.
00:45:18
Speaker
Listen, we all got to hit McDonald's on on on the time. it's It's part of our culture at this point. What's your order, Chris? I obviously agree. Well, today I timed it so that I could actually get a little breakfast because I got there five minutes before it ended and I got chicken nuggets.
00:45:36
Speaker
Nice. Typically, I'm getting the 10-piece chicken nugget combo. Yeah, we love Nikes in this house. yeah Occasionally, I'll get you know just like basic-ass cheeseburger. I don't go full quarter pounder, but Most of the time I'm getting nuggets.
00:45:53
Speaker
Six nuggets. No onions. Yep. No onions. on yeah Yeah. Yeah. They put way too many onions on it. Way too many onions. They just like slop them on there. No, you gotta at least. Pickles is the best part.
00:46:04
Speaker
It's safe to say no onions. I would prefer like a few, but it's safer to just be like, no. i See, i like one I like those shitty reconstituted onions, though. I like those ones. don't want the full cut onions. And then that's not on the cheeseburger. Cheeseburger has the recon ones. Sorry, Rob. I was going to say the one thing to make you feel better about McDonald's. It's small, small victory, small victory.
00:46:26
Speaker
The if you get ah the sandwich that has the puck egg, that is full blown a cracked egg. So yeah yeah, that is the only time that they actually fully crack an egg. like an egg Everything else is like too big. Yeah.
00:46:38
Speaker
but if you get a ah mcmuffin feel good that's an actual egg that you're eating great i feel great because that's what i had with my nugs hell yeah i can't say the same for the sausage or bacon that went on there yeah i don't know but the sausage mcmuffin plus six nuggets that's a yeah that's that's hell that is a brunch if i ever heard of yeah i just brunched it up pretty bad hell yeah yeah That's going to my new brunch spot. is it I just serve McMuffins and nuggets.
00:47:08
Speaker
It's like chicken waffle. You've got to time it perfectly. 11.55. Depending on who is working, and eleven fifty five depending on who is working A few of them are, I've done it enough times that a few of them get annoyed with me. And so the person today made me do a separate order for the lunch stuff after yeah it switched five minutes later, but that's fine. That's cool.
00:47:29
Speaker
It's all good. like I got time. I got time. I got i know what I want to do today. Yeah. I know what I want to No. No, that's see, that's something that that was rolled out across all the fast food places in Canada over the last five, six years.
00:47:47
Speaker
We have we have all day breakfast, but not all day hash brown. So you can get like an eggc muffin at like three in the afternoon. But like once hash brown time is over at 1030 or whatever, that's it for hash browns.
00:47:58
Speaker
Which is kind of depressing because I do want the hash brown. But I don't understand I'm not belittling anyone who works there. It would be tough job and annoying, but why can't you take the frozen patty and deep fry it? I don't know. It's something to do with the fryer. I don't want to get fired. I've been told it has something to do with the fryer changeover I don't know what that means. I don't know what that is either.
00:48:25
Speaker
The hash brown contaminates something. There are fast foods that do have it all day, um but they're not going to have the McMuffin or even the McGriddle. So yeah, yeah. Here, I think maybe so some might and other places that are more like busy, but here it's um it ends at 11 a.m.
00:48:47
Speaker
and it's not even 24 hours like they close it like 11 or 12 at night. So whenever they open, I don't know, it's six, 7 a.m. and till 11 and that's it. Anyway, I think we did.
00:48:58
Speaker
I think fast food talk is hit its peak. Yeah. All right. I forgot what we were doing. We got one more song. This is Israelites. Number four. Whoa.
00:49:10
Speaker
Hey, wait a second. Yeah, the Rob. The Rob switchover. He's obsessed with me poor, me poor. Me poor Rob.
00:49:21
Speaker
Yeah. Obsessed. That guitar tone is just fucking awful so bad. What if I like it? Bacon Jamaican.
00:49:39
Speaker
What if you like it? does that say about you? It almost comes all the way back around to... Yeah, now I like it. And I'm not going to lie. I would rather listen to this.
00:49:51
Speaker
The fact that they're Swedish, I think, makes it like a little more okay for some reason. I don't know why.
00:49:59
Speaker
And so I dunk on that song a lot. And me and Joey have dunked on their Ska songs a bunch in the past. I love Mill and Colin. Do not get me wrong. When they're a punk band, they fucking rule.
00:50:11
Speaker
And even I kind of like their hard, rocky stuff, like Kemp is a great song, but they just could not lock in on Ska more than maybe twice.
00:50:22
Speaker
I like what just heard I like what I just heard. just They have that one scut song that's pretty good, but I guess that's what you're saying. It's only a couple times it worked. Yeah, yeah well a couple. I can't remember the name of that one. It's from the album with the monkeys on the cover, but I can't remember.
00:50:38
Speaker
For monkeys? Oh, yeah, yeah. but ah Is it for monkeys? I don't know. I don't know what it is called. I never listened to them. I just never listened to them very much. It was just on like a bunch of comps. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:50:50
Speaker
Didn't we do an episode of that? How many like how many songs did they have? They had six. Ten or twelve. ah song Ten or twelve, and we thought half of them were okay. and't yeah But it was always about like the tone of the guitar was always like our biggest thing. we were like, man, this just sounds so chingy. like Why do they do it?
00:51:07
Speaker
Okay, so we had Gangsters. It sounds so chingy. It's right there. Yeah, right there. We had Gangsters, Skinhead Moon Stomp Live, Monkey Man, and Millian Collins' Israelites.
00:51:21
Speaker
Which one is the one that we want to vote on? Which one wins? Are we doing a countdown? Yeah, we'll do a countdown. Gangsters. Skinhead Moonstomp Live. in him with Monkey Man. Okay, got it.
00:51:36
Speaker
Okay, I'm ready. yeah Three, two, one. Gangsters. Oh, it's a dead heat. gangs oh it's a dead heat And you know what? Who would win against a monkey man versus a gangster? Who would win in a fight though? Monkey man versus gangster? I almost jokingly Israelites, but I was like, no, it'll lock me in with Israelites. I can't do it. Gangsters have guns. Monkey man's have hands.
00:52:03
Speaker
Gangster's is too good a song. Yeah, but... yeah I don't know. Monkey Man can kick and punch. yeah Honestly, play D&D with us. You'll see that Rob's monk is and not as effective. He's a ah monkey man. A monkey man can sing and sing in a band called Take Five as well, according to cinema these days.
00:52:25
Speaker
I guess if he rolled high enough, right he'd do something really cool. Alright, I'm not actually going to try to figure out a tiebreaker because it doesn't matter. That was mostly just to mit do a bit.
00:52:36
Speaker
So Huffyman won! Now the more important thing. That informs this thing. We got Al Capone versus monkey ah versus Monkey Man, which is literally the same. You know what? I'll just call it.
00:52:50
Speaker
Whatever wins this, wins the Checkered Rob Invitational 2. There you go. Nobody cares. There's the rules.
00:52:59
Speaker
Let's start with the first one. Let's just play Al Capone and we'll play it in full. So vamp like crazy. Here we go. The whole thing. Yeah. I do...
00:53:11
Speaker
I am curious where they got the sound effects from. A movie? They crashed a car and had boom mic. One of the first instances of of the use of a boom.
00:53:24
Speaker
They were just running beside the car with like an SM58 and a really long cord outside of the studio. Or, he's a pretty good toaster. Maybe he's like that guy who's baseballs. Maybe he's making all of it with his mouth sounds. yeah Have you seen that video going around?
00:53:44
Speaker
Have you seen a video going around where the guy like copies the sound effects and the they all go crazy? no No. That's amazing, though. I'll have to send it to you. Oh, yeah. We're sound effect guys. We need more sound effect guys these days. They're on Dropout now.
00:53:59
Speaker
Oh, are they? Okay. Yeah, they have on that show, Make Some Noise, they have what they call the Noise Boys. Noise Boys, actually? love this. Yeah, actually. How does the boys' noise feel about that? It seems like it's more than copyrighted. There was even an episode where they had dude from Police Academy on with the Noise Boys.
00:54:18
Speaker
Really? And did they do cool mouth sounds? Yeah, it was fucking awesome. Okay. we're all like We're not worthy because he's just like so fucking good. Yeah, that's crazy. I have a friend gave me like a sign in to drop out, but I've never watched anything on it. Like I have it on my phone, but I, I just,
00:54:36
Speaker
never think i mean i should check that out yeah mean there's a it can be a little hit or miss i guess you just you get into like the cast of characters and you find the ones you like and so when they're on a thing you watch that yeah that makes sense because you know it depends on how much you like improv but it's not all improv stuff and there's all the dnd stuff too which can also be hit or miss if you get into the story you know but He's a D&D guy and he was like, they actually encourage you to share your password. So he just put it into our D&D chat. And I was like, well, I'll sign up then. Why not? The stuff they provide for the cost is insanely good.
00:55:15
Speaker
And they treat other people well. and and So, you know, you want to be supportive of that stuff. Yeah. yeah hey A very specific kind of person is what it takes to like that stuff, so, you know.
00:55:26
Speaker
Right. It depends. I mean, it's just like YouTube, right? There's a gajillion creators out there that all do the same shit. You just gotta to find the one that you like and kind of watch their shit, right? Yeah. They do a lot of different interesting stuff, but it ultimately comes down to improv, game shows, D&D, and so... Yeah.
00:55:44
Speaker
find people you gotta be fucking nerd yeah i meet you i am i like all those things yeah i like all i say that they have they will have like uh pft was on an episode of one of their shows pretty recently so nice you know they'll like bring in those kind of people sometimes which is what keeps me coming back so Hell yeah.
00:56:04
Speaker
Anyway, Al Capone. It's a great jam. It was just playing in the background and I was like, yeah, it's good. For some reason I have like such the last time I listened to like, it it must have been like Freedom or something with Paul Tompkins and he was talking about going like an eye exam and he's told like just like aging things that it's like eyelids were dirty and that he had to get like a special like eyelid wipe and for some reason i think about it like all the time like all the time i don't know why it's such a random thing that i'm like yeah i guess i have special eyelid wipes they're right here to call my hands
00:56:39
Speaker
Nice. It's going up against... Nice. Nice. Just glossing over that. Mostly like goes because we're playing the full song and if we're going to keep talking, might as well just have it playing in the background. do it over Monkey Man.
00:56:57
Speaker
Let's do it over Monkey Man. We'll have to do it over Monkey Man. That's what Joey said on our first date. Knew it.
00:57:06
Speaker
Hailed it. Terrible visual for me. Thank you. Sorry, Rob. Sorry, Rob. Not great. Joey. My mind palace is is locked for the day now. Yeah.
00:57:18
Speaker
See, now that you pointed it out and we heard the other one, I'm like, where's all that singing? Come on, man. It takes too long to get to it. It's still an incredible song. It just takes too long. Well, it's because it's so much slower. It's the time dilation of slowing the song down. Yeah.
00:57:36
Speaker
It's like a Interstellar whatever, right? You're behind the booth with the pace, like watching them record it. Like, play it faster! Play it faster!
00:57:49
Speaker
But you just put your, ah oh, it would already be a 33 because it'd a single. Dang. was to say you could just turn it on the faster setting on your record player, but only if you have the LP, right? Yeah. What if you just spin it really fast with your finger?
00:58:06
Speaker
That works, too. I like to just think about it being faster. In my head, the song's already over. got through you just pictured the grooves playing it and it's just over that quick yeah they only play one verse and they're out yeah actually i think that's what los corados do intro chorus first chorus they're out i think
00:58:38
Speaker
That's all you really need. Lady vocals sometimes would really improve this song. Yeah? It would. I think that's true of every song. Yeah.
00:58:49
Speaker
I'm going to go out on a limb. sure it would improve Al Capone if all of a sudden a lady vocal came in and was like, yeah, you're Capone. That's awesome. Actually, you're wrong.
00:59:01
Speaker
Imagine, though, if like suddenly a second toaster was introduced, like a feature. Yeah. ah Like a back and forth male, female toasting at each other? You're already getting excited.
00:59:14
Speaker
I'm into that. Make it like Lady Saw or somebody? Yeah. Get Gun Stefani on the track. no Gun Stefani? Gun Gun Her guns don't argue.
00:59:32
Speaker
Her guns are in a vault somewhere. She probably likes the NRA. Her guns aren't even registered. jet In her
00:59:43
Speaker
her house. For God. Guns for God.
00:59:52
Speaker
It's almost like a skinhead beat. I guess I didn't really realize that. There's stompiness to it. Yeah.
01:00:02
Speaker
Playing the full song is not doing any favors. No, no, it's not. going to say this. Making it worse. You are correct. Yeah, I agree. This is making me think it's dragging on a little bit.
01:00:20
Speaker
It's crazy how- I guess it doesn't help that the verses are all the same. No. And that's what I'm saying about karaoke. That's the same argument for when it was karaoke. guess Yes. I came into this thinking I was going to take that monkey man all the way and I don't know anymore.
01:00:40
Speaker
Wow. I got a... You know, that it's it's best thing that it has going for it is that it's Monkey Man. And that none of the other songs are Monkey Man. Biggest pro. It's the biggest pro, because per yeah for On the pro and con list, it is Monkey Man. But I think I know how i'm going to vote. I think I got it. Yeah, I'm ready. I'm having a really hard time, actually.
01:01:01
Speaker
You can a pretty good top two. I'm going to say, for a final, this is good top two. yeah i'm I'm happy. Chris does not agree that this is a good crop top two. I don't agree. I think it should have been a different top two, but I can live with what it ended up with. I can.
01:01:16
Speaker
I got to say what I was mad about. I'm glad you could live with it. And we got here, so it's fine. I can live with it. It should have been Red Red Wine and Big Six. It should have been red Red Wine and Uptown Top Ranking. That's what I had. i do think Simmerdown could have been here. Yeah, I could have.
01:01:34
Speaker
It really could have. Yeah. but If it was K, if it was My Boy Lollipop, be Simmerdown. That'd be good, too, though. Yeah.
01:01:46
Speaker
Well, that heart that would have been the second round thing, and I thought Simmerdown was going to crush that. and And then you guys were like, well, that song doesn't even get out of the first round.
01:01:58
Speaker
Yeah, that was crazy. That was a little crazy. We were being a little crazy. Nuh-uh. Nuh-uh. Nuh-uh, Rudy. There was another one of those cases where, like, you get a story or a bit and that carries a song. And that's...
01:02:13
Speaker
The most unpolitical part of your brackets. ah I'm really just... But isn't that life? That is life. I'm really postponing this vote. I still don't know what I'm going to do yeah yeah yeah i'm ready I'm ready. You're struggling.
01:02:29
Speaker
Just it. just Joey, are you joey yeah I don't know about you. Are you locked in? nike It's really hard for me. I think I'm going to have to... Yeah, I can lock it in. yep Okay. yeah Three, yeah two, one.
01:02:44
Speaker
Al Capone. I had to go all the way. had to take. Al Capone wins. Al Capone is the number one winner. It beats Monkey Man in spite of Monkey Man being Monkey Man. Monkey Man. This is the greatest upset of all time. I got to be honest with you.
01:03:01
Speaker
If you hadn't played the special version, I wouldn't have felt yeah bad about listening to the full Monkey Man. just so boring. The full one was so boring. That checker rob invitational, man.
01:03:15
Speaker
The checker rob invitational really threw a loop. almost still voted for it because I wanted the specials one to win the invitational.
01:03:26
Speaker
And seemed too convoluted. So I just it. But now it's gangsters. There's nothing to be done. We can't change the pass. And we did it. I feel real bad. that Another bracket is in the bag.
01:03:38
Speaker
room for don't think I'm going to talk shit about brackets anymore. I don't feel good about it. Now that you're in it, you're like, wait a second. I don't feel good about it. Let that be a lesson to listeners out there. This is taxing.
01:03:51
Speaker
It's really hard. I only to do two matchups, and I'm going to have to think about it It's easy to judge, but when you're doing it, it's like, wow. it's like wow there's a lot to live with yeah i feel a lot to carry the burden the crown the three of you must wear is tons right but thanks chris reeves for coming on the podcast what do you have to plug just go buy some stuff from sbirecords.com get this shit the fuck out of my house in my storage space yeah yeah that's
01:04:23
Speaker
that's say yeah Buy some stuff from Chris. There's good stuff. You'll like it. You won't regret it. Just buy a couple things. It'll be cool. Make some room good stuff. If you are at all a fan of this podcast, pretty close to nearly every band that's been SPI has been on this podcast in some capacity. So if you like their music, if you like their shtick, if you like our shtick at all,
01:04:48
Speaker
Buy some merch from ah from SPI records.com. Buy some records. yep I have a bunch in my house too because I like the bands too. You're even wearing one of our shirts and Joey's wearing one of the hats.
01:04:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I definitely had to wear the shirt. My freaking face is on it. yeah your face was i like as a show i was wearing that shirt yesterday. I just found Eileen Cut, Ska never died, but you will up. And it was a crop shirt and then just forgot about it. And then, yeah I should have wore that.
01:05:17
Speaker
Anyways, whatever. I made the thing and I just found a Ska never died at the bottom of my closet. so Right. What are you going to do? I don't know. I guess wear it. you can wear it.
01:05:29
Speaker
yeah you can wear Other times. found it yeah And I did. I saw it and i was like, I should wear that for the record. And then. I picked the shirt that was closest to me. Yeah, well, that's some fuck we should pretty much what happened with cat fight. It is what it is. You just grab the one on top.
01:05:44
Speaker
Anyway, to our site, grab some stuff. That would be fucking awesome. Separately, there's so much things that are fucked up in the world. So maybe look around for like some mutual aid organizations or something where you can volunteer.
01:05:56
Speaker
because oh yeah that's extremely important to dig in to things within your community, because that's the only way we're going to make any actual headway and all the stuff is fucked up in there. So please think about doing that in addition to maybe picking up one or two things from our side.
01:06:13
Speaker
And if you're Canadian, get your ass out and vote this year because there's a pretty substantial election coming up in Canada and it can absolutely swing one way where we get Trump up here too. And I don't really want that. That's crazy. And I'll take Mr. Bankman any day over Mr. All right, let's close this up.
01:06:31
Speaker
and ah all right let's close this up Thanks for listening to Checkered Past. Hit us up on Instagram, Twitter, Blue Sky, YouTube, and TikTok at Checkered Past Pod or send us an email at CheckeredPastPod at gmail.com.
01:06:41
Speaker
To support the pod and get bonus content, including a full-length and unedited video of this episode, sign up for the Checkered Patreon at patreon.com slash Checkered Past. We also have merch available at checkeredpass.ca.
01:06:52
Speaker
This episode is edited by Cutman and engineered by Joey. Special thanks to Chris Reeves, Megamichi, and Adam the Ska Mailman for making this podcast happen. Thanks also to Keelan for helping Joey make the Trojan War theme song.
01:07:06
Speaker
You can follow along the final bracket at challenge.com. Whoa. You got fast. You went fast. Next week, we have another Trombonus episode. And until next time, I'm Rob.
01:07:19
Speaker
Selene. Uncurt. i
01:07:25
Speaker
In the immortal words of Neil Diamond, sweet Caroline. Wow.
01:07:32
Speaker
wow