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TromBonus - 59 - Post-Third Wave Primer
186 Plays4 months ago
What is Post-Third Wave you ask? Why it's a subgenre coined by Checkered Rob of course! It's a regional Ska-Punk boom that existed between 1999 and 2005 after the death of mainstream Ska and before the advent of the true Dark Ages. It consisted of bands that were in high school or college, made rough studio recordings and were highly influenced by the Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake and the Bosstones. This primer is for those that remember the days of Winamp, Limewire, Myspace, Soulseek, Turn Up the Ska Radio and the mammoth Still Standing Compilation.
Hosts: Celine, Rob and Joey
Engineer: Joey
Editor: Joey
Skassociate Producer: Chris Reeves of Ska Punk International
Merch: www.checkeredpast.ca/merch
Patreon: www.patreon.com/checkeredpast
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Transcript
Introduction to Checkered Past and Ska Bands
00:00:00
Speaker
bla w wire It's another trombonus episode. It's just Rob, Engineer Joey, and Celine! And a pocket full of dreams as we dig in on the relic of the pre-Dark Ages of Ska. And the post-third wave sound on Checkered Past, the Skaadcast.
00:00:18
Speaker
There's a fuss, many pros wonder. Skaad's the game, cover everyone. It's not too long that it is a song. Checkered Past, you can't go wrong.
00:00:41
Speaker
What up, Checkerheads! Welcome to Checker Pass, the SCODcast with Celine and Rob.
Early 2000s Technology and Ska Theme
00:00:45
Speaker
The show where a Motorola razor-cut scooter and a scalpel iPod with a click track explore the history and impact of a different band each episode. Hope to bring in new fans along the way. I'm Rob and this is my sister and co-host, Celine. Me? Yeah! Trombonas with saloon! Welcome to the party. How'd you feel about those? What you said? Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm stressed about work. They're texting me about payroll. That's where my brain was. I'm not going to lie. What did you say one more time? It's probably more important. This is my co-host with the most toast, Engineer Joey. I want to hear what you said. Was Razor Scooter something or other? Motorola Razor Cut Scooter. Okay. That's three things. Three things. I had one. Yeah, and Razor Scooter. You had a Razor Cut? And Razor Cut, the ska song by the toasters.
00:01:32
Speaker
And a scalpel iPod. That doesn't really work. No. With a click track? With a click track instead of a... Anyway, a click wheel. So tech from... Oh, a click track. The early 2000s? Correct. Yes. Yes. That is what this episode is going to
Concert Reviews: Orville Peck and Goldie Boutilier
00:01:48
Speaker
be about. We're going there. The early aughts. Okay. Not early aughts, tech specifically. We're really in a time of... The Furby or the Pucci, early aughts tech.
00:02:02
Speaker
Just a solid background with like a white cut out of a person dancing in a commercial. Yep, that's right. And the Fratelli's is playing. Yeah. Do you remember that song? No. Doesn't matter. Fratelli's. The plain white t-shirts or whatever. Plain white t-shirts. Plain white t's, I Yeah, believe, right? Yes. we're Hey Delilah. Hey there, Delilah. in a time of... Hey there. Hey, D. Hello, nurse. Hello, Delilah.
00:02:32
Speaker
All right, let's ah pick it up where we left off. Is this what happens when I'm not around? Yep. No, actually. Is anyone listening to these? He's probably a little sleepier, actually. You're like, we're fucking to it. killing it. Celine, you got some Celine at action. I went to Orville Peck. Nice. And it was amazing. How many times have you seen Orville Peck? It was twice. Twice, I thought it was twice. But the last time, he played it way cooler. And he was way more downplayed. And he took a year off from touring to work on his mental health and his physical health. And he's way more out and proud these days. Nice. And even at the show, he was just like, I love being gay. And then I went to cheer. And he's like, I love being gay. He's super buff. And he's way more like cute, he's so buff, he looks incredible. And yeah, he's like very, very, very, very, very talented. He's better like, I love, I like listening to him, but it's like nothing compared to seeing him live. But I think that's very like, very typical of country. It like really like performs well. And the musicianship and his like vocal range is just incredibly offensive. It was very cool though, because like his song Dead of Night is like,
00:03:41
Speaker
One of his, like, first songs, it's very, like, Twin Peaks-y and slow and, like, goth-y and, like, the whole crowd was, like, singing it and I'm like, that's fun. Um, and he's, like, definitely getting his moment because he has, like, that song with Noah Cyrus. I cried when he sang it and, uh, he has a song with Diplo and Kylie. No, Noah was at the Calgary Stampede. Oh! Yeah. And he has like a song with Willie Nelson that's um I'm forgetting how it's worded. Cowboys are secretly fond of each other. Yeah, but that was pretty good. I heard that one. That's pretty funny. Yeah and Elton John he does um Saturday nights are right for fighting. Oh thank goodness. Saturday nights the night. We can erase Nickelback's version of that from history. Yeah it's really good. It's really good and and he played that live. I wish he played Midnight Ride but
00:04:28
Speaker
I could play it from memory. I love that song so much. Diplo, Kylie Minogue, and Norval Pack, that's out of control. And ah the opener, it was like, a I don't know if it's like, I think she travels with like her same band pretty often, but I know at least Goldie Boutilier. She's from Cape Breton. And she does like, she's like super Stevie Nicks country Fleetwood Mac. And she's like total badass. Amazing. She was such a good performer. And like she had an all female band. oh that's cool And they were really like badass amazing and they were like seemed like quite she said she like She looked seems like she's probably like in her 40s and she said she like thought her Opportunity had passed and now that she's been on like this tour It's like giving her her spotlight and her songs are like so good. So Goldie Boucher I highly recommend cowboy gangster politician or the actress and her like ah music videos are really amazing, too
00:05:21
Speaker
Sick.
Creative Music Videos: Femvoyu's 'Yearning'
00:05:22
Speaker
There you go. A little bit of a country update. It was like the first time in a really long time I just saw a band with like no background, first time, had no idea who she was and like fell in love on first listen. That's cool. It was just like truly taken aback by, and like it listens well like on, ugh, I'm just like very in awe of Goldie Boutilier. Very inspiring. Very Fleetwood Mac vibes. Yeah. yeah um and just seeing like a mature woman kill it too and be celebrated and she's like a badass performer she's super like rock and roll um and then yeah femvoyu my band has a new video and song out called yearning we're just on youtube right now so just go there it's catchy watch it it's very catchy very catchy and i worked really hard in the video so please watch
00:06:10
Speaker
And there's some really beautiful like Alberta sunset shots. Yeah, it shows off Edmonton really pretty. it's Yeah, it's very good. And we spent zero dollars. We owned all of the clothing. We found horses randomly. To quote literally everybody who watches the video. horse Horses! There's a lot of horses in it. Yeah. And we literally, just like our friend, who just like it' like a a pal who took the video was like, oh, I know where you can find horses. Yeah, I know where if you walk down this trail, you can just hang out with horses. Yeah. So I don't know. That was really fun. It's like fun that it was like a fun night. It's just been fun. It's fun that it's like fun and we're not trying to like, I think we're going to start auditioning people and like play a live show. And the song is genuinely in earworm. like Yeah, it's actually a really good song. Very good.
00:06:56
Speaker
So yeah, they uncle do that. How many songs you got now? I don't know. You heard it here first. Seven, six, seven, six, eight? Seven's the number in my head. We'll have a full album very soon. Nice. Very soon. Yeah. but we have We'll have like an album worth of songs, like,
Exploring Post-Third Wave Ska Bands: 1999-2005
00:07:13
Speaker
yeah. Yeah. You have an EP worth of songs already. Easy. yeah Easy. Fucking easy. Fucking easy. I don't know what I'm doing. ah I don't know what I'm talking about. See, it is. Maybe it's just the trombonus. You were giving a shit about it earlier and now you're doing it. But when I do it, it's cuter and funnier and more endearing. Yeah, know of course.
00:07:35
Speaker
Uh, so this episode, uh, we're going to do another primer. Uh, this one was kind of inspired by, um, kind of conversations. We have a past guest, Kaylee. Kaylee talks about this thing called big, big Larry and the skankers, uh, which is like an alter ego fake band side project. I don't know what it is completely, but. Basically, the premise behind it is bands that existed between 1999 and 2005. So we talk a lot about the Dark Ages, which is 2005 to 2000, let's say 20, 2015 maybe, ah which is when Scott is totally dead. Everybody has kind of jumped off the bandwagon. Anybody who's coming around is trying to like reinvigorate it or do something different with it.
00:08:20
Speaker
But, and then there's the modern era new tone or whatever you want to call it, but they ah there was a period of time when Scott just died, 1999 to 2005, when there were a lot of bands still starting. um And they were basically the type of band that refused to acknowledge that Scott is dying. They hadn't got the note. They didn't get the note. yeah And they were heavily influenced by the bands that were popular, which would have been the Boss Stones, Less Than Jake, Real Big Fish, et cetera. So they just wanted to keep it alive for as long as they could. ah Highly regional bands, they really only existed in their little small pocket. There's no money getting thrown at these kids. They're all in like high school, if not early college. ah Production quality on a lot of these recordings sucks. And most of these bands died in about 2005. So they would put out maybe two, three records.
00:09:17
Speaker
and then be gone, and all of it was self-produced, no record label backing. There was a compilation in 2003 called Still Standing that was a combination of Stomp from Canada, Jump Up from Chicago, and ah Megalith Records, which was Bucket's record label after Moon. And the three of them got together and they made this, I think there's 85 songs on this is on his compilation. so And it's a mix of ah like legacy bands, a lot of these new bands and a lot of the trad bands that were happening at the time. So what we're going to focus on in this episode ah is what I'm coining as post third wave, kind of like post punk or post grunge that happened like just after the wave ended.
Nostalgia for Early 2000s Ska Scene
00:10:02
Speaker
And it's like, I don't know, is highly influenced by what had just happened. And so we're going to play about 15 songs, five of which came off of the Still Standing compilation, then a bunch of other bands that kind of exist around this time ah to kind of get a feel for this very specific six year period when bands came and went in that period of time. okay Mostly ah almost all in the States, if not all in the States, I haven't i've figured it out exactly. but That's the gist of it, and it's, yeah, no trad band, so trad heads, sorry, that's a different scene. That's a different scene. It was a different thing. It was a different thing. It went on all together. We'll get there maybe someday. We gotta do more trad stuff, I know, I know. We'll get there maybe someday. We'll do, the 2000s trad scene was huge, and it was awesome. Yeah, totally. I mean, the AgroLights wouldn't exist if it wasn't for that.
00:10:54
Speaker
Yeah, the aggro lights were probably that them, and deals gone bad. And the slackers just go all the way through the entire time. That's fun. Yeah, yeah. So that was that was already a thriving, awesome scene. So um ah we can definitely dive in on that on a different... This is this ska punk, third wave-y kind of stuff. So buckle in. If you think things are too third wave-y, this episode is going to be um very third wave-y. So this first band is called... I'm glad I'm here for this trombone. You said you wanted to. You're Barry Bleed. I did. I didn't tell you what was correct. So from the Still Standing compilation, this is a band called Mrs. Scannotto with a song called TV For Your Head. Okay. I definitely remember this song. Yeah, you listened to the... Lots.
00:11:49
Speaker
uh still standing comp it's good this song gives like five iron energy yes don there's a there's another one they're from rochester i feel like i used to think this was five yeah i remember this is a visceral this is a lime wire song yeah i feel like this lime wire so i think lime wire and casa for sure played big into this
00:12:19
Speaker
Uh, turn, turn up the raid or turn up the scarf. TV what? TV for your head. That's why. Cause TV, TV for your head. There you go. this i I just heard the song. so yeah I feel like I thought this was TV for your head. It's catchy. it's not not catchy i remember that song i'm gonna say a lot of these songs are
00:12:51
Speaker
Huge earworms for sure. They definitely uh wanted to take the pop part of the pop punk and used it Yeah, for sure. Um, yeah, I have not I do that stupid though to be honest TV for your head. Yeah, it's there's I'm not okay. We'll talk about lyrics as we go as to I actually TV TV for your head i'm gonna say this i'm Barring a couple the lyrics of these songs that we're gonna play are really dated Really fucking dated. But it is catchy. That was catchy. It is catchy. I don't need to shit on it. It was good. Well, how about a band called Donkey Punch? How about that? Can you imagine the early aughts there's a ska band called Donkey Punch? I can. I can't imagine. This is mozzarella stick chord. Only surprised that it's not skonky punch, to be honest.
00:13:45
Speaker
That tickled me. The song's called So Sorry to Say. Who is Donkey Kong? Someone was listening to the hippos. Who is Donkey King. I also know this song. It's all from the still standing compilation, yeah. Why did we listen to that so much? Why did you do this to me? Because there was nothing, in 2003, there was no Scott. Why do I know all these, why did you trick me into this? Now everyone's gonna know I secretly like third, oh no. That, why, this is so like, the singing is so weird on this.
00:14:24
Speaker
Yeah. I haven't heard this in like probably like 20 years. It's not with you. Yeah. I'm so in love. It's true. So sorry to say it's not with you. Yeah. That part is cool. And the synthesizers are funny. It's pretty Archie's. Yeah. It's like Archie's ska. Oh, I was going to look at where these bands are at on each one. Scarchies. The Scarchies. See, that would have been really on, I can't believe I have to type in donkey punch. It makes me feel gross. I'm sorry. If you don't know what a donkey punch is, go on Urban Dictionary and find out. It's going to fuck up your algorithm. It really is.
00:15:05
Speaker
For Michigan, there you go. There's gonna be a lot of Midwest bands on ah on this because of the jump-up connection. DJ Chuck Ren, shout out. Probably pulling a lot of bands from underneath. um Okay, this next band is called Bum Ruckus. Bum bu Ruckus with a song called What's Your Sign and it's spelt real funny. Is that just a like a big old fart? Bum Ruckus. It's our, anyway, never mind. I had a half a joke. This is so just like... What's the band that did the Stacey's Mom? Oh yeah. The Counts of Wayne. Counts of Wayne. Counts of Wayne. Also the rapping. And the rapping. Yeah, this one's got rapping in it. I guess I don't have to keep saying I remember the song because I know the compilation.
00:16:02
Speaker
Not that I can stick to. There's so many songs about girls. Almost every song is going to be about girls. Hey baby, what's your sign? That's fun. Astrology. We can bring it back. Witchy with Mitchie. This is a witchy song. That's why I brought it here. Hey baby, what's your sign? That'd be funny actually to add that in as a sound bite. Yeah, this is of the time. Yeah. 2002, 2003. Joey? Hey baby, what's your sign? Yeah, can you cut that? You got to make a game. You got to make a game and call that. Hey baby, what's your sign?
00:16:40
Speaker
Okay, that's actually a good idea. I was just i reached out to Mitchie and then forgot to that that follow up. is the More with you with Mitchie coming up. Yeah, it will happen. And our pod. And every now and then. That sounded like... A band that was pulling from the same influences that the salads were, but wasn't as tight as the salads. Didn't get a major label to back them up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Although we did discuss, the salads were totally indie. Yeah, totally, right? So no excuse is what I'm saying. This is definitely its own era of this music. It reminds me of really like matches. I thought the matches were good. Yeah.
00:17:22
Speaker
Yeah, but yeah, it was a weird time that this even this area of time in All alternative music was kind of weird. I feel like like that's weird. There's an identity Yes, that's exactly it. and It was an identity crisis. We knew one really ah knew what was going on is it Pop punk like what's happening? The term emo hadn't even really cold 2005 2006 and even at that point it was like a catch-all for Everything from like small brown bike to like fucking my chemical romance to simple plan simple plan was called emo Yeah, just like pop punk. Yeah, right everybody got called emo. Totally was Yeah, if you're not a hardcore band you were emo even even hardcore band hardcore bands or emo bands if they had singing Everything was a little bit emo. Everyone looked a little bit emo and every music was a little bit It was the it was the complete reality we were in all pop punk started using drop D and wearing black every because new more new metal just died Yeah, like by this point by 2003 new metal was was that so so the body the new metal body fell and
00:18:29
Speaker
yeah it but hi the leg with the hit floor body hit the floor body the part body the floor Did the body hit the floor? Its spirit came up ah out of its corpse and like dis ah dispersed itself into all of the other genres just a little bit. yeah just a little Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Outside like the horrible peck show, me and Cody Obrigo, which was just just like a dude, a real dude guy friend. We were singing a drowning pool at the bodies at the fire and I don't know why. And also, I am the game. You know how to play me. What's that? That's Motorhead's Triple H fucking theme song. And then for like Motorhead played like behind Triple H a couple of times where he rose up.
00:19:13
Speaker
Yeah. That's fucking cool as hell. There's nothing cool. There was a point, there's a point when new metal and wrestling had like huge crossover. The drowning pool is like every, the connection is that like drowning pool was like every fucking like yeah raw and smack down fucking theme. yeah It was always like, and then just people like getting smacked down. Yeah. it's It's real beat down. I was actually thinking about it. I was like, Rob's like, I love that you're like, masculine thing you were into was like WWE, but it's like also So Camp and Drag. You know what I mean? And then I was like, well, that's why I loved it. Even the doodliest thing that I like is still like, not that doodly. Yeah. But like, but I was like, that's why I liked it. Yeah. Nothing wrong. That's the best part. All right. Next song. This is a band called the Super Specs with a song called Listen Up. Also featured on the Still Standing compilation. I'll get off of it. I promise.
00:20:09
Speaker
Wait for the bass. You said five songs, right? So the next one. After the next one. Yeah, this next one is quite the song.
00:20:20
Speaker
Hey, I recognize the song. Yeah, of course. Again, another band, two albums, 2001, 2004, that's it. This is a really catchy horn line. What were they called?
High School Energy and Relationship Lyrics in Ska
00:20:29
Speaker
The Super Specs. Don't you think this is a catchy horn line? It is. Their horn sections were tight as fuck, like great horn sections. Again, because... I miss the style of photography, like the high flash, kind of blurry, only eyes, high brightness. Yeah, I'm going back to this. Myspace edits. Myspace, another big part of this. Yeah, definitely. Oh, yeah. It's my time. Myspace is back in. I really like the timing on this thing. Of these four songs, so far, this is my favorite one. That bassline is cool. This is the most modern sounding.
00:21:12
Speaker
Oh yeah. That's good stuff. What is it about the guitar tone that makes it sound like this era? i Probably like, um, what's where I'm looking for solid state stuff. Oh yeah. Cause this would have been, that's kind of what made new metal sound. Yeah. What is it about the sound that like connects it all? Yeah. It's, it's solid state amps. It's the the type of distortion sounds different from like tube amps. Okay. And at this era, uh,
00:21:46
Speaker
during nu metal they really started blending a lot of solid state and tube amp sounds but solid state amps were cheaper so for smaller bands a lot of them if you wanted to get a marshal whatever at the time you could save a few hundred bucks by buying a solid state one and it had distortion more like that Cool. So it's a lot of, oh, this era particularly is a lot of like solid state amps and blends between solid state and tube amps because like emulation hadn't really become a thing or home recording hadn't really become a thing yet. Right. Yeah. So yeah, this has been.
00:22:21
Speaker
the great little gear in your bedroom. Yeah, that's why I like almost all the good guitar. I know, you know, because I'm like, oh, there's obviously something about it that's making it all sound like this. So what if somebody wanted to recreate the sound? By a solid state. Yeah, by a solid state. I gotta have my old valve state back there. Okay, let's start, we gotta, we'll get Ike's. We'll start a new metal band. wow Not that guy. Don't fall from that vent. He's not canceled. He's just like a, what do you mean he's not canceled? He's such a wildly right wing fucking douchebag. Yes. Oh my God. Yeah. A lot of the new metal guys have like system of a down killer. My brain has like blocked me from it. Yeah. You're like not allowed. Yeah. No, he's like fully brain worms. I'm glad I didn't go to the show when he came down. Yeah.
00:23:12
Speaker
I thought he was just a weird theater nerd. No. Okay. Yeah. He's like fully like, uh, like taking videos in his truck about anti-woke stuff. He's that guy. he is that guy as Well, it's important to know, I guess it's important to know what about fredders. I think like he's like Eminem where he just says a bunch of weird shit, but he doesn't mean anything Yeah, I think he's a little bit like he's still like I'm the chocolate starfish or whatever yeah But also like they're in on the joke He dresses like a goofball and they make fun of themselves on what about power man 5,000? Spider? What's Spider up to these days? Is he cancelled or is he alright? I think he's fine. I think he's fine. I feel like he's fine. I feel like- Can I look up to in the new metal scene? Rob Zombie? Probably still? No, he's probably isn't. No, Rob Zombie's okay. So here's that here's your lefties. You got yeah get me yeah you got Rage.
00:24:08
Speaker
right yeah brief Hey, that's just saying that's I know no new man. I guess that's not system of a down except for the drummer, okay? and so know i um You know I love so yeah, the drummer is apparently like ousted from the band for being kind of weird cuz like sir just so anti-war Yeah. Serge is like an every way a cool dude. Like he's on the right side. Okay. Thank you. I didn't eat that. That actually makes me feel really good. He has a beef with imagined dragons right now. I love that. That's even better. Because they played in like, uh, with like a, where a war criminal is like the president. I forget which country, did Azerbaijan.
00:24:44
Speaker
They played it faster by Jan. So Serge is still awesome. Thank you. I needed a new medal. I just needed like one good new medal guy. One of them dropped it. You needed one of them to come up. Yeah. Yeah, yeah that actually, that evened it out. Okay, thank you. We can move on. This next song is called Bomb Time. Guess what it's about? Skateboarding. Huh? Skateboarding. No. Not war. It's George Bush. No. This song, I'm gonna say. Jagerbombs. Yeah, what the fuck? That'd be so fun. No, too early. Too early. Oh really? No, 15,000. Jagerbombs. Oh yeah. Yeah, it'll be right around this time. Yeah. A Jagerbomb is Jagermeister and Redbull. In a drop shot. Sorry, I gagged. I love him. Too much liquid. This band's called Scottos. Sorry? Scottos. What's the joke there? No fucking idea. Oh, okay. One word? Yep. This was rough. Wait for this chorus. Yeah, wait for the chorus. The chorus was really good though. Wait for the chorus.
00:25:59
Speaker
Okay, so I'm going to put this out here. this song This song is about strapping a bomb to your chest and blowing your school up. And it's post- Columbine. So they should know better. Yeah, not appropriate. and The band changed their name to The Action, and then they released a compilation of all their Scottos stuff. Guess what song is missing? Oh, this one. It's very boring. It's it's a little samey, but it is a very problematic. Yeah. I'm sure at the time they thought they were making a statement or thought it was funny or something. I don't know what the... It was the shame, guilt, or it was like the like, we're going to be so offensive that it's making a
Gender Dynamics in DIY Music Scene: 2000-2010
00:26:40
Speaker
point. Yes, definitely. I remember that argument all the time. yeah That's why ever like theres so many people, everyone said the end bomb. So many people dropped the end bomb.
00:26:50
Speaker
That's why you see it all the time, because we know it's so ridiculous. That's bomb time. Bomb time and bomb time. Yager bomb time. All the bombs. I like yager bomb time, personally. It's better than the res. Yeah. Okay, this next band is called The Ska Daddies, and the song is called Up To You. Salin. This must be where I got it from. I'm going to say this. The Ska Daddies fucking rule. They're so good. What do they look like? but range a Wow, this is yeah, this is very good. They have a lot of like Latin influences in their stuff. This one's very poppy though 80 songs about some girl. Hey, that's just all gonna be about song fun girls. Oh But wait for the chorus again. So, two things to take away. Horns rule. And all these songs are catchy as fuck. This one's great, actually. I really like this song. So they're from they're from Oxnard, so they got a very SoCal approach. I like the timing of the chorus is actually very Jamaican ska. Don't you find? That's up to you now.
00:28:12
Speaker
So this album, Rude Boys, that came out in 2003, is incredible. And I actually encourage people to listen to it. It kind of honestly just sounds like sped up, fast, punky Jamaican music. Do you know what I mean? To me, that's what Third Wave should be. They got a bum from doing a cover of Hotel California. That was their little bum. That was their Casa hit. Yeah. um And it says they're from Oxnard, but that that album was released in Germany, which is really funny. But anyway, it's it's a good record. Check it out. Scott Daddies. All right, this next band is called... They're all tens. This next band is called First Grade Crush. And they're from in the Midwest somewhere. Ew. They're children. Listen to that production. Yeah, that's something.
00:29:05
Speaker
Song's called Believe Everything You Read Now.
00:29:11
Speaker
Sounds like like a Midwest emo album. way They're very emo attached. Yeah. Like especially they're into like the Midwest emo. So it sounds like... There it is.
00:29:30
Speaker
I used to know a guy who, this was their favorite band, and I was surprised. There it is? No, it was some internet friend I had who just was like, First Grade Crush is the best ska band, and I was like, I don't think they read any ska songs. look
00:29:49
Speaker
my memory of them My memory of them is that they're a horn punk band. That's my memory. yeah ah not So, I mean, call it what you will. The vocals are a little rough for me. yeah that I like rough vocals, but they're like not cool enough to be that rough. I feel like this band would be cool to see live, but I don't know if they're recording does much for me personally. They are from confirmed... Oh, it says band from the USA. That doesn't tell me anything. They were also known as the Scallops. I didn't know that they called themselves that, it' like scallops but with ska on it. That's good. That's fun. I like that one. That's good. That's very good. just love that. We were like, first grade crush, ew, scallops, yay. All right, let's take a break. And when we get back, more post third wave.
00:30:46
Speaker
Welcome back to Checkered Past. We're talking about the post third wave 1999 to 2005 and we're going back in time. This next batch, Celine, it's going to trigger stuff. i I'm telling you, yeah, you're going to get triggered by at least most of these. yeah like like No, like positive triggered, like you'll be, you'll be taking them back in time. Activated? active That's the word. Activated. It's the opposite of triggered. Yeah. Activated is the opposite of triggered. Yeah. That's right. Some, some of these songs are just fucking stone cold classics in my opinion, but whatever. Like that's my problem is this, this is like,
00:31:28
Speaker
I, you know, if you never heard these songs before, you'd be like, what the fuck? Like, this is terrible. Like, what are you talking about? Yeah. Uh, which is where I could feel like your feelings. doing Yeah. so this is is not but For me, I'm just like, Oh shit. This is like at the time, this would have been, I would have been eight, 16. when this stuff was happening. And this was like, I i had no new ska ever. i I get it, but i'm I'm looking at it from an academic viewpoint. like like wait wait like when you Like when you were at a museum and you're looking at like, technology as it's moving along and you're like, Oh, it made sense that people use this thing because they, it's the next step, but they weren't there yet on the actual thing. You know what I mean? And so that's the way I'm looking at these. yeah I'm listening to them and I'm like, I see where it fits in history yeah and when why it was important, but also like, I prefer the thing that we got to
00:32:32
Speaker
Later. We got somewhere. Yeah, we got somewhere. We were going somewhere. yeah Sometimes the steps you gotta take to get somewhere are not for everyone.
00:32:44
Speaker
oh Well, we get to talk about 99 to 2005 and we never talk about bans from this era. yeah and And to be honest, ah I agree, if I was more into this at the time, I would have a stronger nostalgic connection to it and I would probably enjoy it more because it's, I mean, I forgive a lot of shitty production and stuff and stuff around this time that I liked. You know what I mean? like There's a lot of punk rock albums from this time that I like hand wave away a lot of the same issues that these songs have, but in a different genre, right? so
00:33:19
Speaker
So would you say that my assessment is sort of correct about this sort of post third wave? Oh, absolutely. they were therere These bands, like there's a little bit of that regionality creeping in. Right. a little Because third wave in general, although a lot of the heavy hitters did sound different from one another, third wave in general is a pretty homogenized sound. Right. And this is all very third wave-y, but it does have like that, the last band was kind of emo-y. You know what I mean? Like in that Orange County band or the Oxnard band sounded like a California band. right You know what I mean? So like that regionality is is creeping in, but they absolutely still sound like they're trying to keep the third wave party going for sure. yeah
00:34:09
Speaker
So far what I'm like, and again, what I'm learning too is like, okay, so poor production is like the name of the game. Like almost all of this is produced like extremely like backyard. yeah Like we don't, to your point, we're not at the era where- We're not at home recording yet. So this is small studios. This is small independent studios. This is, I know a guy that has an interface and we're going over to his house yeah four or five weekends in a row to get this done. Like the albums would have been recorded how I did my albums with my band. They probably had to like fight and scratch to get studio space too, because if they were a ska band, people were probably like, fuck, I'm doubling the cost. You know what I mean? like It probably wasn't easy for them to get time to go and make music. like And these are big bands. ah Almost every band we've listened to is a full-sized 8, 9, 10 piece ska band. That's huge. right like yeah We haven't heard a no horn band yet. They've all had horns. And more than one horn.
00:35:05
Speaker
at least more than one horn. yeah So, I mean, it's just a different time for this, but I mean, I haven't heard anybody here who I'd say is a poor musician. I feel like we've had some like decent musicianship. They have a craft around pop writing. Honestly, my my biggest issues are just that it's not for me. Yeah, to be honest like a little aside from that They're all songs about girls. Yeah, that's a little like yeah, that's a little much for sure and like I mean, there's a reason I don't like that I
00:35:38
Speaker
I'm a cherry picking daddy when it comes to this era of what I go back and listen to to begin with. Yeah. It's because of every fucking song was about a girl. Yeah. And like it gets old really fast. Just like 50s, 50s songs. Same deal. Early rock and roll. Every fucking song is about a girl. Every song gets so boring so fast. Right. And this is, I will say like, I'm just looking through this list. We got some serious dude energy.
Humorous Ska Band Names and Culture
00:36:07
Speaker
um There's gonna be one band coming up that has like a prominent female voice in it. And aside from that though, like we're before that. I would say 2000 to 2010 was...
00:36:20
Speaker
some of the most male-dominated DIY music times. Oh, for sure. Like, there was no women in small music, it feels like, at that time. Or it was tough to break into, at least. It was really, really tough, yeah. So I was looking, because there's a couple really big Dark Ages ska bands that were big, Tip the Van and Chase Long Beach. But they're 2005 to 2010, so they they missed the cut for this. So I think stuff started to happen, but it was a few years after this whole genre or era of Ska was happening. so Right, right. Yeah, but all right, so you're back. Yeah.
00:37:03
Speaker
Is that good? Yeah. Okay. Now let's listen to the next band. I voted for Kodos. That is a Simpsons reference if there ever was one. And one of the best. It's one of the best. One of the best. Guess what was real cool in 2000 and 2005? Simpsons nostalgia. Oh yeah. You know what's still cool? Simpsons nostalgia. Always. Hey, were you sick of songs about girls?
00:37:26
Speaker
This song's called I Just Want You to Know. i voted for kodos is so funny late last night it's a beautiful boyfriend had gotten in a fight new walk an alien overall they do sound like way for the harmonies since had a ska band on it this is also very fine but for the harmonies
00:38:01
Speaker
I don't know. I hate those lyrics. Yeah, the lyrics to the song suck. I want to make love kick it with you. Ew. Ew, yes. So this band is big, real big fish. Yeah. Get out of here. And to the point where they have a song called I Wish I Were Aaron, which is about to- Ew, I like simply can't. This is, like, hard, real big fish core. Like, I voted for Koto. I will say this. Just suckin' RBS dick. Cool-ass name. Incredible name for a band. Incredible name for a band. Incredible name for a band. Their second album is called Close Enough for Scott. That's amazing. That's so funny. Obviously, they're funny. They're funny. They're clearly funny. They're funny. Yeah, totally. But the lyrics to that song are just no good. They have songs like Calc Girl and stuff or, like, Science Class Girl or something like that. I don't know.
Unique Ska Styles: Spit Valves and Others
00:38:55
Speaker
really of its time. I'm sure there's people out there that have some nostalgia for them, but ah very teen movie, very not get like almost missing some of the real big fish point. Like being a fan of real big fish, but missing some of that like self-deprecation. Yeah, being more sincere and authentic about it. like There's just something missing about the execution on that, but that's it they were a huge band in this era. like that yeah That was a big band. They're the only one of these bands that I've heard of so far. And people still talk about them. They're still in the conversation. Only two albums, 2002 to 2005.
00:39:32
Speaker
Let's move on to a band that Cool Chris is a big fan of. They're the spit valves. And this is a song called, the Skaboobity Babita Ska. That's very funny. That's what he should did. He you should have said that or his friend Ska Baruch should have said that. Say it again. Skaboobity Babita. More rapping.
00:40:00
Speaker
That's fun.
00:40:10
Speaker
Yeah, this is cool. They rip. Yeah, it's good. And they actually go at it. If you listen to their songs, they actually write more skate-punk-y songs. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Got a really great horn section. Hence why they're called the spit vowels, which is a great ska band name. Yeah, that is. The spit vowels? Yeah, totally. Damn. And yeah, so the album I'm thinking of is called Fine Print at the Bottom, which was 2001.
00:40:37
Speaker
Yeah, this is good. And the breakdown. And also the production on this one is like quite good. It's quite good compared to like what we've been listening to. Like just a little bit
Evolution of Ska Sound and Nostalgia
00:40:48
Speaker
better. Yeah. yeah a boo bit of bob butta scar yeah boo bobba diskas kaboobita bobbra scar And that's, and guess what? That song's not about a girl. What was it about even? Scaboo-ba-da-ba-ba-duke-ah? Scaboo-ba-ba-duke. Scaboo-ba-ba-duke. Oh, so good. Yeah. You can have it. Most of their songs are about, like, just being ska. That's good. And they like to, like, do, like, battle raps, like, about how cool they are. Like, it's really fun. That is fun, not like that. They have a song called Attack of the Killer Rollerbladers.
00:41:24
Speaker
So, you know, they'd like to skateboard and say they are shitting on rollerbladers. Hell yeah. You know, I get it. I'm here for the spit valves. I'm here for that. Yeah, I'm into that. I just think there's nothing wrong with rollerblading, but yes. There's nothing wrong with that. There is nothing. So here's the band that people... We grow and we learn. yeah yeah Here's a band that I don't know if I would have put on here if people didn't love them so much. They're called the High School Football Heroes. And this is a song called Beat of a Rhythmless Drum. why was there was so Everyone was so fucking obsessed with high school at this time. All these bands are like in high school. like and i'm I'm not even joking. This is the most high school-y bands ever like in ah in a genre. It's not like they like were building up in a gen in a genre and then did a band. It's pretty hard. People love high school yeah football heroes. Nope, that's BFI.
00:42:18
Speaker
Jim Class Heroes, isn't it? Huh? Jim Class Heroes is a rap band. Wait, what? This is high school football heroes? Yeah, that's what they're called. So they're named after the AFI song? Yes. Oh, okay, that's wild. Yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, that's a great AFI song. When they're not talking about mom not letting them get mohawks. Yeah.
00:42:43
Speaker
The album in question is called... that people really love. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. That's the album. 2004. That is the most 2004 album title ever. Yeah, holy smokes. Yeah. I was just thinking the same thing. Yeah, that's wow of the time for sure. It had that Desperado probably text on it. Well, it has the sunset image. Okay, yeah. I was so close. Yeah, so close.
00:43:14
Speaker
action action movie. Same energy. Same energy for sure. It was tight though. It's tight. People love it. and Nothing wrong with that. this And then this is a Northeast band. Infamous Jake was the other one that was brought to me, but Infamous Jake I feel more tied to like the flaming tsunamis like Long Island sound, okay ah which I think is a Different sort of thing that was happening at this time with like arrogant sons of bitches kind of finishing off. Yeah yeah um So I don't really want to include them because I don't think I don't really feel like less than Jake energy as much from those kind of bands Yeah, fair um This next song. Oh, man, this so this is the the myspace ska song from 2000 to 2005 This is the know-how Who were a super tight live band at this time? like people were like, okay the know-how is the band you see live and this song is called see her again and
00:44:04
Speaker
Did you see them live? I did not, so but they were on Stomp in Canada. Oh. Do you recognize this one? Yes. So 2002, Happy Fun Robot Kill Time was the album. That's fun. That sounds familiar too. They also had a now in Technicolor was in 2005 and then they were done.
00:44:29
Speaker
oh yeah okay i remember it yep it's about girls back to the songs about girls
00:44:51
Speaker
Not at the chorus yet. Genre rock style ska. They were from Florida.
00:45:00
Speaker
It's a very ska bassline. It's very, very ska. It says Jeff Rosenstalk in the know-how. Okay, so now I gotta research that. Let's just vamp for a little bit while I figure out at what point, maybe it was just live? Because I don't think it was on record. It's not from Florida. No, it's from Long Island. Very scary. She's vamping. She's vamping. I'd rather joke every time. We weren't able to figure it out, but maybe it popped on and played saxophones. It's very scary that Jeff Rosenstock may or may not have been in the know-how. It's very scary. It's terrifying. One member we don't know if he was in or not. I'm gonna say Jeff Rosenstock played a random saxophone. That seems like a thing he would do. Yeah. All right, so the next song we have is... Oh, the band is called... Okay, so I alluded to this before. There was a internet radio station called Turn Up The Ska.
00:46:05
Speaker
The way it worked is you would put in a request to listen to a song. They had this like bank of of bands and it was mostly like not big name bands, it was mostly like local bands, ok but it also had like Skopee, it was on there and a bunch of like stuff like that. And you'd put in a request for a song and then it would go into the queue and then it eventually would play because there was no Spotify. So that's kind of right how they got around that. And it was all indie bands. So they all allowed them to play the this music. So what ended up happening is a bunch of bands ended up just showing up a lot because there'd be the same people going on because they're getting requested all the time, right? Makes sense. This is one of those bands. The band's called Flip the Switch and this song is Punk Rock Girl. I've heard of this band. Yeah, this is... It's not a cover. It's a different cover. It's not that Punk Rock Girl. It's not that Punk Rock Girl. But I remember Flip the Switch. What else did they do? They did other songs. They did that pirate song.
00:46:59
Speaker
What was the pirate song called? Yeah. I'm just pulling them up. I remember this song for sure. But what was the pirate song? I feel like I listened to that a ton. Quality ska music. That's what the album is called? Quality ska music? No, the album is called Snap Crackle Ska. Oh. A Pirate's Life For Me was the song. Yeah, Pirate's Life For Me, that was the song. when we were all obsessed with pirates. That's very fun time though.
00:47:39
Speaker
They did cover a power of love. Yeah. That's fun. they were They were big time goofballs. They were really into the goofball music. They have a very fun horn section. They do have a fun horn section. Yeah. They do a lot of weird little stuff, like little circus-y stuff. Yeah, little fun little horn lines. And I haven't listened to these albums in a while, but I remember them being pretty rough. But I think, I don't know, they could be good. That's a fun song. They could be good. I was like pulling this song in and I was like, that's catchy. That's an extremely PG, harmless song about girls, right? And I was like, seems fun.
00:48:16
Speaker
I saw a girl at a punk rock show. She was a punk rock girl, and I liked her. Yep, that was the exact song. Classic. Classic. Classic 2004 or whatever this was. All right, this next band is called Monkey Jacket. And this song is called Hello Solo. This was another turn up to ska song. Monkey Jacket. Monkey Jacket. That's fun. so We talk in a jacket made out of monkeys. Is that a bunch of monkeys are holding on to you? Or like made out of a monkey? Or for a monkey? Or a monkey made for it. Or a jacket made for a monkey. Yeah. A monkey made for a jacket? I believe a monkey jacket is a suit. Okay. A monkey suit. Like a monkey suit, but just the jacket part. Like you wear often. I like these. I'm wearing a monkey jacket right now. This is your song.
00:49:07
Speaker
One of the songs about girls.
00:49:21
Speaker
I got some of the 2000s pop-punk in there. Yeah. And the album, oh yeah, I was gonna pray to keep up with this, monkey jackets.
00:49:33
Speaker
Sometimes it's hard to find them. I'm on discogs for anybody following along at home. And they have like a little bit of a different kind of vibe too, that's cool. Yeah, I cannot find it. The album has a monkey with who's like doing ah like a PowerPoint presentation. It's like the album artwork. I can't remember what it's called, but it was around this era too. I like that. That's good. All right, that's the last song about girls I have. Oh, good. This next song is the first one that has a girl singing. Hooray. This is a band called Stocking Rock City. I didn't know they could do that. Since when did anyone allow them to do that? Not during this time. Yeah. Here we go. Yeah, Ska Band. On the nose. City on the nose, yeah. Hey, that's fun. It's fun. They're going faster off the bat. They go faster. I like that.
00:50:26
Speaker
it Do you think they get they slow down for the ska part? No. Maybe. Yeah, fast. Real fast. I remember this well.
00:50:39
Speaker
The vocals are so good. Yeah, she's an incredible singer. Ska band.
00:50:48
Speaker
Also, tight horns. Yeah, tight horns. The EP is called Jake's Fury and the album is called Look in the Mirror. That's the only two releases they had and they're great.
00:51:01
Speaker
Don't care. Don't care. It's about partying. I haven't heard this in so long. It's like, yeah, bringing up very deep visceral memories. Crazy. The Stalking Roxy. So we're from how would I have heard this? That was on the still standing compilation, but it was also like everywhere.
Conclusion and Audience Engagement
00:51:21
Speaker
This is another Myspace heavy band. I'm like, why is that deep in there? Now I'm going to close it all off with ah with with a band that's near and dear to my heart. I love this band so much, but also I did it off for Joey. Hooray. Because he's here. ah This is a band called the Taj Motel Trio. What it be for me?
00:51:41
Speaker
Cause the songs about Star Wars, it's called Vader. Okay, I remember the song. And and i I do have a significant amount of this song, so because it's important. Cause it's important. Oh, they're playing the the the riff. Yep. Did you think they wouldn't? I figured it was going to be in there probably.
00:52:03
Speaker
The March, I guess. Imperial March. Yeah. So their first album is called Feels the Force. And it has Darth Vader on it. And they have a song called Skankenstein, which is great. That's very good. Skankenstein's funny. Life of the Party is the second record and then part of the problem, and that's their whole discography. They had a little bit of a comeback recently. Did they send a C&D to Planet Smashers? Yeah, about Life of the Party. Yeah. I think it'll be the other way around. Yeah. Somebody's getting a C&D.
00:52:38
Speaker
Not these guys, though, because they threw in some major notes in there. There it goes. Totally flips it off.
00:52:49
Speaker
But the lyrics are really what you come for. Just wait, Joey. It's important that you hear the lyrics. It is a good song.
00:53:08
Speaker
Actually this thing go go go Vayner go
00:53:15
Speaker
I like that they're just describing him, though. That's what the song is. It's just his intro song. yeah Oh, it's like his theme song, like if it were if he was a cartoon character. And then at one point they go, the the ladies love to hear him sing, I am your father. it's It's a really good song. ah Taj Motel trio incredible listen all three of their records. This is this is good stuff. It's very silly So that's ah that's it. That's post third wave you coined a term. I Don't know. Maybe it's a thing. Maybe it's not a thing i called post third wave. Yeah, yeah 1999 to 2005 what do you guys think any any standouts? Oh
00:54:01
Speaker
Yeah, the ska band song. And then the other songs I do. The songs you knew. Yeah. You know what, I will ah recommend, I don't know how, it's not easy to find it. I'm sure you could like download it, use SoulSeek or whatever. um Get the still standing compilation, it's 85 songs. It's a wild ride and I listened to a bunch of it in preparation of this. Very of its time. There's some great legacy bands on there. There's a lot of these types of songs. There is a lot of good trad. So if you're a trad fan, pick it up to kind of check out a lot of those. Pick it up. Yeah, pick it up. That's right.
00:54:35
Speaker
um Because Scott's dead comp in 2007 tells you more about the Dark Ages. But this tells you more about what was happening in this. Of Darth Vader. Of Darth Vader. The Darth Ages. That's all I'm going to say about it. There's some good songs on here. There's some songs that aren't that good. Like, listen to what you like. That was a sampler. That was a sampler. That was a sampler. A little primer. Another primer again for all those prime heads out there. I'm hungry. I liked a few of them. I like to sing songs. Don't treat me like your son. Thanks for listening to Check or Pass. Set us up on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Check or Pass Pods. Send us an email at checkorpasspod at gmail dot.com. Support the podcast. You can sign up for the Check or Head Patreon to get the episodes uncut in both audio or video format. Or you can buy some merch at checkorpass.ca. Our trombonuses are engineered and edited by El Hoey over here. That's me.
00:55:27
Speaker
Our trombonas theme is provided by Keelan, and next week we have a very special episode. Until next time, I'm Rob. I'm hungry. And I'm Joey. In the mortal words of Scottos, the patrons are gonna pay some day.