Word: ska
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...most, the essence of "ska music" is energy: an upbeat, catchy rhythm, that provides the infective inspiration to dance. If the style of music has one fault, it is that it can be easily taken over by its energy, focusing on bouncing rhythms at the expense of meaning and lyrical expression. Easy listening ska therefore seems a contradiction in terms, sapping the music of its most important quality, its energy. However, this contradiction could provide an opportunity to challenge the accepted form of ska music, injecting it with a new meaning and lyrical relevancy...
Iovine often sees hits where others see only whiffs. In early 1991 he heard a tape by a scuffling California punk-ska band called No Doubt. The band had been struggling since the late 1980s with little to show for it. Iovine recognized that No Doubt's alternative pop sound offered a fresh twist on rock, and that singer Gwen Stefani had star power. "All the pieces fit together, even if the music wasn't that far advanced," he says. "We felt they could be big, with a little work and grooming." Iovine and Interscope president Tom Whalley sharpened...
Once the band takes the stage, the expectant crowd knows what will follow: a consistent deluge of supercharged pop ditties, flavored with a hint of ska to keep the fans on their feet. From the outset, DHC never sinks into the mediocrity of Honey, I'm Homely. For almost an hour, the California quinlet instead offers a little sunshine to ward off the inevitable autumn harbinger of the approaching cold. The audience has no problem immediately warming up and DHC crank out song after song without any disappointment. Whether jumping in unison to the band's appeal or shouting along...
What the Pietasters set out to do--create a commercially popular ska album--the Slackers have accomplished without even trying. The Slackers do not fit into any commercial mold, but it would be difficut to find anyone who would dislike Redlight, as Victor Ruggiero (who luckily boasts of 200 new songs in his back pocket) and his six mates flaunt their musical talent and imagination to grand effect...
Although bands like No Doubt have drawn widespread success, they do not truly represent ska music since they, for the most part, lack the true ska beat and are glaringly deficient in their use of horns. But what they seem to have done is what the nation's appetite for what ska sound demands. If you find that type of music at all appealing, go out and buy Redlight, because it represents everything that is good about ska music. As for the Pietasters' new album, leave it on the shelf. Although they bring with them a much bigger reputation...