Tag: Ska

Merry Christmas, Friends! I’m going to type up some thoughts on bands that should most definitely reunite in 2023 to 1) Play an anniversary set, 2) Re-Release a classic album on either vinyl, tape, or cd with bonus features (and band commentary) and 3) Throw some new and/or unreleased tracks at us that we most definitely need to hear. Thoughts and ideas can be found below…. Oh, and Tim Taber if you’re reading this, I hope you’ll consider the words below and incorporate them into future plans with Transparent Productions here in Orange County and Southern California in general.… Continued →

Must Build Jacuzzi have returned from their long, extended hibernation in the forest where they learned to fish with their weathered hands, hunt with weapons forged in fire, forage for food with nothing but a knife, chop wood with that murderous axe (sorry merch guy), build a shelter out of Lincoln logs, and unfortunately had to eliminate someone from the group just like in Lord of the Flies. While it was a tragic time they had to endure these past 4 years and the fact that they lost a good merch guy in their battles, they have reemerged from the shadows with their sanity in tact.… Continued →

In honor of Five Iron Frenzy day, the band drops hard hitting new song – “When They Find You”. The song features backing vocals from Mike Herrera of long running left coast punk act, MxPx. Listening to this song first time through I made up assumptions and drew targets to throw foam darts at in the hopes making my confusion stick somehow. I read through some comments on different social media sites, scratching my head reading some of the responses then instantly connected with the lyrics Reese Roper posted in the comments of the FIF page (Facebook).… Continued →

So Indie Vision Music is on a roll with new Spotify playlists. For those that use Spotify, we are using this as an opportunity to spread the word about new music and artists we think you should be listening to. A mix of indie and larger artists as well as everything in between. All styles represented throughout these various playlists. This new one I just created is called “New Feel Good Anthems” and it is just that. Perfect for those summer drives and introspective quiet moments.… Continued →

No, The Supertones weren’t the first Christian ska band. The Israelites’ first album pre-dated them by a year. But in the UK, Rev Counta and the Speedoze* (another incarnation of Ishmael United) had released a full-length as early as 1980! And perhaps some Jamaican bands that didn’t fit into the CCM/CBA mold had been active earlier than that, it’s hard to say. However, the Supertones were the first Christian ska band to release an album on a nationally-distributed label, releasing The Adventures of the O.C. Supertones just a few months before Five Iron Frenzy dropped Upbeats and Beatdowns.… Continued →

The 1990s saw a huge revival of ska music–that funky fusion of reggae and punk, or so it seemed at the time. The real history of ska was much deeper than that. Unbeknownst to the general populace, ska actually pre-dates reggae, going back to at least the 1960s. It fused traditional calypso beats with horns and sounds gleaned from New Orleans jazz. Reggae emerged in the 70s, as tempos slowed down and the overall feel became more relaxed. In the 1980s, amidst emigration from the Caribbean to England, ska mixed with punk and/or new wave to create the “Two-tone” scene, a sign of racial integration amongst working class punks and skinheads represented with the ever-present black and white checkerboard imagery.… Continued →

Check out this really cool interview with Paul Hyde who is the man behind Small Step Records and drummer for the super duo – Grandpa Loves Rhinos. Everything you’ve wanted to know and some fun nostalgia driven question & answer dialogue. Check it out below! Follow Small Step Records here.… Continued →

This beautiful song was released near the end of December by the Eastern European Ska-Rock-Punk band, October Light. The song is titled “It’s Cold”. Yes it is festive and Christmas oriented but don’t let that stop you from enjoying it right here in February. Who else here appreciates the music of October Light? One of my faves.… Continued →

This is my 25th anniversary tribute to albums that released during the year of 1996 (and/or presumed to have released during this particular year). It was a monumental year in underground, indie music and one that was ignited by artists sharing a similar Christian Faith. While the rest of the world was consuming their Michael W Smith, or Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, DC Talk, Amy Grant, Rebecca St. James, Jars of Clay, or even that guy who wrote the Butterfly Kisses song, we on the indie circuit side of things were rejoicing with a newfound optimism.… Continued →

Freeto Boat was an awesome punk rock band mixed with ska. Like my previous SOTD for Sick of Change, this one is also a love song. Today I’ll let the sun set, There’s no anger in my heart. Tonight just let the moon rise, Our time won’t be spent apart. Starlight and confessions Of what you mean to me, These twilight conversations they’re helping me to see… What you are in God’s eyes, what you are in mine not a hair too shy of perfect and always just in time.… Continued →

The W’s were a short lived swing revival/ska band whose 2 full lengths garnered a lot of airplay on Christian rock stations back in the day. They are well known for their first hit The Devil is Bad but also check out the superb Moses. I did not know, but 2 members of the band formed a band BenDixon that I have been starting to follow lately. Today’s SOTD though is in homage to one of my fave songs to play on bass guitar. … Continued →

Havalina Rail Co. was a delightfully quirky, eccentric, genre-fusing and genre-bending experimental band from California. Across their 10-year career (give or take), the band dabbled in folk, ska, jazz, ragtime, blues, Americana, surf, and multiple internationally-themed genres. No two albums in their canon treads the same ground, and yet each successive opus is clearly recognizable as Havalina. The band stopped recording as HRC somewhere in the early 00s, but members have turned up elsewhere. Most notably are Matt Wignall who is a renowned photographer and is perhaps now best known as the producer for several Cold War Kids albums.… Continued →

Myself and Noah have been hard at work on creating a variety of Spotify Playlists featuring many bands covered by Indie Vision Music as well as other artists you might recognize. Check out the “Pop Punk Essential Playlist” I created a few weeks ago as well as the “New Song Hits” Playlist I just morphed from the prior “Song Blast” one. Each has new and recent songs from a collection of artists. A little disclaimer: The Pop Punk Essential Playlist is not one that features Christian music only artists.… Continued →

In honor of our country’s independence and a day of mass country-wide celebrations, I thought it would be appropriate to share a very special new album that Thumper Punk Records is releasing next week by the ska-punk project, NO LOST CAUSE. It is special in that very few “Christian” bands are even playing this style of music and even fewer can play it as good as this sounds. “Take 2” is a full length record comprised of new and old songs from the NLC catalog all reworked/remixed and with added horn sections to make these songs sound so much more incredible than they did in the past.… Continued →

A two part interview series featuring Jeff and John Fortson of Squad 5-0 fame has just been posted. It’s very in depth and features some fun behind the scenes knowledge. There is also mention of the band’s new EP on the way. Both parts listed below. Follow this account too for news on the upcoming releases. Oh and for added bonus, it looks as though Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric and Brothers Martin fame has laid down some moog on some of these EP songs!… Continued →

Reese Roper and Joe Yerke are up to their old games again. They obliterating our ear drums with a new podcast that will chase friends away and make enemies of family members. This “Pickle & Boot Shoppe Podcast” is the things nightmares are made of. Listen through your favorite podcasting/digital network now. Make Millennials shed snowflake tears with this icy cold, middle aged attempt to grasp at fading youth. Well, you know I do appreciate the music of both their respective bands so I can’t knock this too hard even if they are jaded, sarcastic old guys that reek of grotesque cynicism.… Continued →

Must Build Jacuzzi are a little more than half way done writing their next full length record. The band will (hopefully) record the songs very soon and release this year. What is your favorite Must Build Jacuzzi song and what do you hope they do more or less of on this next record?… Continued →

I am so excited to share this news with you all. Ska/Punk project, No Lost Cause, is dropping a new release titled “Take 2” which will be a collection of songs with a heavy dose of horn parts and ska flavor. You’re gonna want this in your ear drums guaranteed. Check out the art for this new album, below. “Take 2” is out this summer on Thumper Punk Records.… Continued →

Listen: Amazon Music | Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube Lyrics:  Shut up. Follow: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube… Continued →

Does anyone remember the swing revival back in the early 2000s? Bands such as The Deluxtone Rockets, The Dingees & Denver & the Mile High Orchestra were very common on alternative/rock Christian radio stations. Flight 180 was one such band who went by a couple name derivatives including several lineup changes over the years they were in existence. I think this is another genre that Tooth & Nail innovated in the Christian music industry.  I’m pretty sure they took their name from the Final Destination first film.… Continued →

A really cool new microphone brand that I just stumbled upon through Kickstarter this morning is being brought to the forefront by none other than Reese Roper of Five Iron Frenzy and Brave Saint Saturn. He also mentions a “New Wave” project by the name of Heartwrench, coming soon (so excited for this). His new microphone company – ARCLIGHT MICROPHONES, has just launched on Kickstarter and they are seeking to raise $10,000 to cover costs of creating this one of a kind new design/concept.… Continued →

No Lost Cause just dropped another new song on all digital networks which is actually an updated version of their prior song “Where I Stand” but with fresh new horn parts and a better sound. Check it out below and make sure to follow NLC here.… Continued →

No Lost Cause are back with a brand new version of their song “Where I Stand”, complete with tasty horn parts and loads of SKA. Even a breakdown? Say what? Listen, stream, and download right here. You can also stream below.… Continued →

Edit: Five Iron Frenzy themselves have posted updated lyrics with corrections made, click here. Also, I left out info on “So We Sing” which is a catchy song in it’s own right but I didn’t mention because it was the first single released a few months back and I assumed most had heard it. Carry on…. Five Iron Frenzy surprised just about everyone by dropping their brand new, electrifying full length album on Friday. It is a complete, total dumpster fire wreck of an album and filled with nothing but pure feces.… Continued →

Starting this new year off right with some fun ska music from B.U.C.K. (building Up Christ’s Kingdom) aka Buck Enterprises. This Detroit, MI six piece band released a few albums before disbanding. I remember writing a college paper on ska & B.U.C.K would be classified as 3rd wave ska. Their 1998 self-titled release featured more horns than the second & featured a cartoon character which appeared to be skanking in a raincoat while holding up a checkered black & white ball which are the normal colors for ska music.… Continued →

I was going to write a little intro to this list of mine, but in the end I figured I’d just let it speak for itself. Alot of great music dropped despite all the year brought us and these are my top 20. Let me know what you think!     20. Everything In Slow Motion – “Influence”. (Rock/Hard Rock) Released 10/16/20 on Facedown Records. Influence was the band’s first release since the 2016 ep, Laid Low. While it didn’t feel like a whole lot of new ground was covered, that is a good thing, especially considering their sound.… Continued →

When Happy Christmas Vol. 1 hit my ears, I was pleasantly and delightfully impressed. It had some of my favorite bands at the time doing their best versions of Christmas classics. One of those songs was “You Gotta Get Up” by Five Iron Frenzy which was originally composed by Rich Mullins (RIP). The song is a playful tune with a bouncy rhythm and plenty of holiday cheer, perfect for the Christmas season. Well placed horn section and Reese’s unforgettable voice, I mean that in the most sincere way.… Continued →

No Lost Cause just dropped a new version of “Hope For The Hopeless” featuring smooth, warm, and well placed horn parts throughout. This is the best that No Lost Cause has ever sounded. The song will appear on the upcoming album, “Take 2” which will release on Thumper Punk Records next year. You can download this song, just click the description on the YouTube video. For Fans of The O.C. Supertones, Five Iron Frenzy Suburban Legends, The Insyderz, Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, etc.… Continued →

I got around to interviewing Reese Roper of Five Iron Frenzy and he was beyond cool in answering these long, drawn out questions. I am super excited he answered my questions in such detailed form and I hope those of you that enjoy a good read will appreciate these questions and answers. Head over to the Five Iron Frenzy kickstarter right now and contribute, there are just a few days left.… Continued →

Five Iron Frenzy just dropped their controversial new song with a reference to a donkey. Forgive Reese, he really doesn’t know that he just invited like a ton of grown ups to come chase him down, and maybe their kids too? Yikes! Seriously though, people will be upset (even I have questionable taste) but remember one thing, the more angry you get, the more Reese will write. Please do not give Reese & Co. more reason to write lyrics. End it now. With that little disclaimer said, check out the song below and contribute to their kickstarter if you like that sort of thing right here.… Continued →