Skankin’ Pickle
Sing Along with...
(Asian Man Records [Reissue])
When I procured the Sing
Along with... reissue, I thought it would be a nice stroll down memory
lane. I would listen to it once, file it away in my collection, and take it out
on the days I most yearned to feel the excitement and joy that my 15 year old
self experienced when I first bought this CD twenty years ago at Wax Trax
(immediately after seeing the band in 1995 at the Ogden opening for Sublime—who
I didn’t see because my parents picked me up early). But that’s not happened. I
actually liked the songs and enjoyed the experience. Maybe I’m older now and
can admit my penchant for ska despite the protestations of all my youth crew
friends (who spent the ‘90s karate kicking the air while everyone else tried to
watch the show) and my punk-only friends (who hate everything, including most
punk). Apparently, once you’re no longer concerned with being cool, you can
start liking ska again. And let’s be honest, for all the hate it inspired, the
genre was really all about acting goofy and dancing. What was wrong with that?
Anyway, the members of Skankin’ Pickle were among the pioneers of the third
wave of ska that became popular in the mid to late ‘90s. The group released
four albums, including Sing Along With...—the
pinnacle of its career in many ways. Twenty years on, the music is fun,
humorous, and full of incessant energy—more or less the opposite of the dour
indie rock that dominates public and college radio waves. Songs like “Rotten
Banana Legs,” “I’m in Love with a Girl Named Spike,” and “Pabu Boy” brim with
feverish, gleeful intensity that incites the titular dance whether or not one
is in the presence of pickled cucumbers. More than just a exercise in
nostalgia, the reissue is a whole hell of a lot of fun.
Comments
Post a Comment