Episode #16
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1. Rude City Riot
Rude City Riot are a six-piece from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They play fantastic, upbeat, power-ska and reggae. Punk influences are scattered about and you can hear this in vocalist, Dustin Lionhart III. His voice has a raspy quality to it, and it's a perfect match for the rude beats that make up a majority of Rude City Riot's sound. And the trombone (Kevin Tang) and saxophone (Jonny McCormack) are key players as well and know how to back up Lionhart's voice. Rude City Riot currently have one self-titled five song EP out, with a new album set to be released soon. The song featured on this episode is titled, Same Old Story, which is currently available as a single.
2. Big D and the Kids Table
Big D and the Kids Table's, How It
Goes, is a fantastic album. Easily one of my favorites, but Strictly
Rude is also just as great if not better. They're currently recording
their new album which is going to be titled, For the Damned, the
Dumb, and the Delirious, which should be released in June 2011,
according to their website. It's going to be a mix of Strictly Rude,
How It Goes, and other stuff, which should be an awesome follow up to
Fluent in Stroll. Some of my favorite tracks on How It Goes include
LAX, Cutshow, and Little Bitch (cool cover, but mostly the videos
make it fun to listen to and I love it when I hear Dave go, London's
where it's at...). But I think the song with the best horn line is
on the track, If We Want To. When that horn line first comes in, it's
sort of timed oddly, and it does that in different phrases of the song,
but it all later falls into place so nicely. The track on this
episode is, If We Want To, off of, How It Goes.
3. Exit 24
Exit 24 was a ska band that formed in the late 90's in Hawaii. The members of the band all came from around the island of Oahu, but all met in the Manoa area, hence the name, Exit 24. The band's music was fluent in third-wave ska, often mixing it up with both punk and ska elements. They had but two brass players for their horn section, later playing with a single trombonist as heard on their KTUH Monday Night Live record. That set was recorded live just weeks before their one year anniversary as a band back in 1999. Other than that, they also released a six song EP titled, Ready...Break! (through Hawaiian Express Records), which includes the awesome instrumental, Bay City Blues and their love song about Jennifer Love Hewitt titled, Jennifer. Featured on this episode is the song, Jaybird, off of their live record.
4. Stuck Lucky
Stuck Lucky plays some crazy ska-punk, with a healthy mix of other influences (Check out this video). Really, really good stuff. The band are a five-piece and they come from Nashville, TN. They currently have a full length, Possum Soul (2009), an EP, Hate the Light of Day, a split with Arm the Poor, and a 7” titled, Dry Drowning (2009), all released through Community Records. Stuck Lucky will be a part of the Ska is Dead: Young Guns tour this year, playing select dates in April and will also play Bloc Party that will be happening in New Orleans. The event is set up by Community Records. Details here. The track on this episode is titled, D-D-D-Devastation, off of, Possum Soul.
5. Night Gaunts
Night Gaunts are currently a three-piece from Auckland, New Zealand. They play a really upbeat, wacky style of Ska that's just coated with jamming vibes and groovy beats. No horn section appears at the moment, only guitars and a steady stream of sick bass lines. The organ plays a dominant role as well and you can hear it (and what sounds like saxes) on the track, Top Hat Killers (Lo Fi, One Mic, is another good one), on their album, Full Body Tourettes [Pt. II], released in January 2011. Other great tracks on the album include the punk driven, These Knives, and the spacey-rudeness of Space to Vacuum and Vicious Viles. On Vicious Viles is a very (very, very, awesome) well placed excerpt from A New Hope (These aren't the droids you're looking for...). Night Gaunts also have in their catalog, Full Body Tourettes [Pt. I] (June 2010), a two track release with both Vicious Viles and Shivers. Both appear on Full Body Tourettes [Pt. II]. Both releases are also available for free with links on their facebook. Purchases can also be made on their bandcamp. Featured on this episode is the song, Blue, off of, Full Body Tourettes [Pt. II].