My tastes during the third wave of ska ran a lot more 2-Tone-influenced or JA-style than the Mighty Mighty Bosstones' ska-core style. I got a kick out of seeing them out at Charles Town during Lollapalooza '95, and it was wild having them show up in "Clueless". But I felt like the Pietasters, or the Toasters, or Hepcat should have led that 3rd wave charge into the mainstream. What do I know? I should have been able to guess that the Bosstones would have been able to piggyback from the greater acceptance of punk in the mainstream to become one of the biggest bands of 1997.
I got this six-song sampler a few weeks before I got my promo copy of "Let's Face It". None of the kids who'd hang out at the radio show would let a night pass without me playing "The Impression That I Get" once. It drove me crazy; I was right at the tail end of my indie label orthodoxy, and here was a really great song from a band on MERCURY RECORDS! What would Tim Yo say? I gave the people what they wanted...at least until HFS put it in heavy rotation.
The sampler has one cut from the second through fifth Mighty Mighty Bosstones albums, as well as a pair of covers. I can only assume that I held onto this after 1998 for the KISS cover of "Detroit Rock City", from the cleverly-titled "KISS My Ass" tribute compilation. I hadn't thought about it since the early aughts until I turned it up in a box full of slimline CD case releases. I've been revisiting a lot of ska from the mid to late 90s over the past year, and this, surprisingly enough, holds up really well. So, let's take this last opportunity before Election Day to skank it up, Clinton-era style.
Click here to download.
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