Beloved British ska and pop band Madness has announced their first US tour since 2012. The band will visit Seattle, Oakland, Las Vegas, Boston, and New York, giving American audiences
With the weed smoke wafting around the Lower East Side, as tokers of all persuasions celebrated their high holy day of 4/20, the Bowery Electric was overtaken by a trio of ska/punk bands kicking up the stoner energy.
Don’t Know How to Party and Question the Answers were probably the high point of ska’s third wave. They mixed the fun and soul (something oddly missing with most third wave bands) with a hardcore edge and a dose of serious honesty. In a decade of ponderous self-consciousness the Bosstones were refreshing. However, if you want a rehash of “The Impression That I Get,” pick up a copy of one of the older albums. The Bosstones have grown.
Despite the encroachment of corporate sponsors (which in this case is not really as bad as it sounds) and the shift away from its old “punk rock summer camp” ethos that dominated my first run of attendance (1997-2002), the last three years have still been a lot of fun and I’ve seen far more good performances than bad. Warped Tour 2010 was no different.
Pepper’s fourth studio album No Shame (Lava/Atlantic Records), produced by Nick Hexum of 311, Tony Kanal of No Doubt, and Paul Leary of The Butthole Surfers, set the Hawaiian trio into weaving island moods with So Cal surf rock ringlets complemented by reggae beats, alternative rock fuses, and ska accents.
The flippant music of Madness casts a dark shadow over the compositions of Kaiser Chiefs and Gwen Stefani, but unlike their contemporaries Gang of Four, they don
