Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer ("Bosstone") Ben Carr remained constant members. The band's final line-up also included drummer Joe Sirois, saxophonist Leon Silva, guitarist Lawrence Katz, keyboardist John Goetchius, and trombonist Chris Rhodes.
Ska punk is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones, making the genre distinct from other forms of punk rock. It is closely tied to third wave ska which reached its zenith in the mid-1990s.
Five Iron Frenzy is an American band which formed in Denver, Colorado, in 1995. Best known for playing ska punk music characterized by an offbeat sense of humor and prominent Christian themes, Five Iron Frenzy was one of the pioneering figures of the Christian ska movement which emerged with ska's mainstream revival in the 1990s. Since 2000, the band's music has shifted away from straight ska to include and embrace stronger alternative rock and pop punk influences, though it continues to create ska music and feature Christian overtones despite several members' changes in religious beliefs.
The Beat are a British band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1978. Their music fuses Latin, ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock.
The Suicide Machines are an American punk rock band formed in March 1991 in Detroit, Michigan. During the course of their career, the band has released seven full-length albums on the labels Hollywood Records, Side One Dummy Records and Fat Wreck Chords, as well as several EPs and singles. They have experienced lineup changes over the years, all with founding member Jason Navarro as lead singer and front man. The contemporary lineup includes Ryan Vandeberghe on drums, Rich Tschirhart on bass and Justin Malek on guitar.
The Cherry Poppin' Daddies are an American swing and ska band established in Eugene, Oregon, in 1989. Formed by singer-songwriter Steve Perry and bassist Dan Schmid, the band has experienced numerous personnel changes over the course of its 30-year history, with only Perry, Schmid and trumpeter Dana Heitman currently remaining from the original founding lineup.
Rustic Overtones is an American rock band from Maine, United States, active between 1993 and 2002 and from 2007 to the present. They were the first group to perform live on XM Satellite Radio, and their 2007 album Light at the End was the fastest-selling local disc ever in the state of Maine.
It Means Everything is the debut studio album of American rock band Save Ferris; it was released on September 9, 1997, through Epic Records and Starpool Records. Save Ferris formed in 1995 after its members appeared in other bands. Vocalist Monique Powell became the band's manager because of her connections in the Orange County music scene. Following the release of their debut EP Introducing Save Ferris (1996), they received radio airplay on KROQ-FM, after which the EP sold 12,000 copies. The band performed at the Grammy Awards, which led to them signing with Epic Records. Their debut album was mostly recorded at NRG and The Hook studios, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, between April and June 1997. It Means Everything is a ska album that includes influences from swing music and has been compared with the works of American band No Doubt.
Viva Nueva! is the fourth album by the Rustic Overtones, released in 2001 before their highly publicized breakup a year later. With 16 tracks, the album has the most songs of any Rustic Overtones album to date. Tommy Boy Records distributed the album after relations soured between the Rustic Overtones and major label Arista Records. The group produced a (supposedly) million-dollar record with Arista, then found themselves in trouble with the label after playing an extraordinarily hardcore set. It is said that an Arista representative was heard to admonish the group, yelling "We thought you were going to be like the Dave Matthews Band!" The group claimed that they had made no such promise, and Arista allowed them to take the record with them when they left. This album was then given to Tommy Boy for release, with the approval their fans. In December, 2009, the Portland Phoenix ranked Viva Nueva! the tenth greatest local album of the decade, saying that, "The fact that the vagaries of the music business beat them back doesn't diminish its greatness," and called it, "Maine's first real major-league rock album."
Paranoid Social Club is an American rock band formed in 2002 in Portland, Maine, which plays a fusion of indie and psychedelic rock. Critics have noted of the band: "Dave Gutter's got one of the most versatile, likable rock voices in the game," and likened the sound to "...an artful combination of raw power and delicate melody."
Long Division is the second album by the Rustic Overtones, originally released on November 17, 1995. At one hour and seven minutes, the album remains the band's longest release to date. "Simple Song", the second track from the album, received extensive airtime from Portland alternative station WCYY, and is largely responsible for the band's rise to prominence on the Portland music scene. The album remains a fan favorite, and was re-released in a special edition format with three bonus tracks in 2008.
Callisto is a post-metal band from Turku, Finland.
Spencer Aaron Albee is an American musician, singer and songwriter from Portland, Maine. Albee has been a wart on the Portland music scene for over two decades. Previously, Albee fronted As Fast As and was the keyboardist and backup singer for the band Rustic Overtones. Albee released the solo album Spencer in July 2013.
Light at the End is a 2007 studio album by the Portland, Maine band Rustic Overtones, the first album by the band since its break-up in 2002. The album was recorded in spring 2007 and released on July 24, 2007. It has become the fastest-selling local disc ever in the state of Maine. Songs on the album include the title track "Light at the End" as well as the new song "Troublesome" and the previously unreleased fan favorite "Rock Like War", both of which were premiered on WCYY the day that the band announced their first patio show since their break-up. With only eleven tracks and a length of just over 40 minutes, the album is the band's shortest to date.
"Rock Like War" is a song by Rustic Overtones that appears on the band's 2007 studio album Light at the End.
Grüvis Malt were an American six-piece band founded in Providence, Rhode Island in 1995. They have released seven full-length albums, one of them issued by the Lakeshore Entertainment subsidiary Lakeshore Records, and three EPs. The other albums were released independently under Grüvis Malt's self-run label, Integers Only.
Christian ska is a form of Christian alternative rock, and subgenre of ska and ska punk which is lyrically oriented toward contemporary Christian music. Though ska did not constitute a genre within the Christian music industry until after third wave ska had peaked in the general market, Christian ska continued to thrive independently into the early 2000s.
The New Way Out is the sixth studio album by the Portland, Maine, band Rustic Overtones, released on November 11, 2009. Recorded throughout 2008 and 2009, the album is the band's first since the departure of keyboard player Spencer Albee, and their first full-length release of all-new material since ¡Viva Nueva!. With just over an hour of music, the album is the band's second longest after Long Division and features the most experimental work of their career.
"The Feast and the Famine" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. It is the second song and second single from their eighth album Sonic Highways. The song was released on October 24, 2014.
