It might surprise folks, since I’m the frontman of a ska band myself, but I don’t listen to a ton of ska. In fact, before I joined that band, my vision of ska was very narrow, informed by my time in youth group in the late 90s and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. That is to say, I was almost exclusively aware of Christian Third Wave ska bands like Five Iron Frenzy and OC Supertones and also Goldfinger.

But as I’ve learned, ska is a far deeper tradition, with roots stretching to Jamaican folk music and permeating British anti-racist movements in the 70s before being co-opted by punk and hardcore in the 80s and then becoming the soundtrack for suburban middle schoolers hopped up on Mountain Dew in the 90s.

I was recently gifted this copy of Love and Other Disasters, the debut record from Buffalo NY outfit The Abruptors. And despite the time and place of its origins—and whatever expectations my brain might still make when I hear something described as ska—it lives much closer to the rocksteady and two-tone sounds of early ska acts like The Specials and Skatellites instead of the hyperactive mania of Third Wave, as well as some tasty flavors of 60s doo wop and R&B. Continue reading →