That's right, it's ska season. There's something about the temperature turning 60 that immediately leads me to load my 30 favorite third wave records onto my phone and make them my walking/driving soundtrack. Foremost amongst them is this, Hepcat's second of four LPs, 1996's "Scientific".
I played the ever-loving shit out of this and the promo single "Bobby & Joe b/w Dollar Dance" in the summer and fall of 1996. It slotted nicely alongside the Slackers' "Better Late Than Never" and the Stubborn All-Stars' "Open Season"; a trio of contemporary records from either coast that could have just as easily come out on Trojan in 1968. It was a very good summer to make friends and meet girls and stay up all night and raise the slightest bit of hell. There wasn't a need for anything much stronger than a Mickey's wide-mouth and a pack of Marlboros, and it was mighty easy to find a few bucks to pay for both.
Yeah, this evokes a fair amount of nostalgia for me. But it still feels lively and fresh and the sort of thing I want to play for my nieces this summer. This, of all the Hepcat records, appears to be out of print (sadly), so enjoy with a free conscience...at least until Jump Up puts in for a reissue.
Click here to download.
