It’s hard to believe, but ska-punk favorites Less Than Jake are celebrating 20 years of being a band.  In honor of this benchmark, the band has posted a video that spans their career and includes great rare footage from their early days.  More 20th anniversary details will be announced soon.

You can check out the video at their website HERE

Since I’m not that great of a writer and I’m a bit lazy, I’m letting Jordan Porter write this show announcement.  Let’s face it, he’s better than I am:

This, my friends, is the stuff of legends. Pure solid gold. Absolute, 5-Airhorns-a-blazin’ lunacy. On February 11, New York City Ska seminal skankers The Toasters return for a 31st year of enlisting 15 year old kids into the 2-Tone Army (a-hey! a-hey!). Helping these elder statesmen out in the department of heavy hitting monster reggae will be two scorching local groups ready to turn your hips into jelly.

The Dropsteppers, fresh off their 2011 Megalith Records debut “Get Up in It!”, will supply you with their trademark soulful lamentations, with that added Perez Bros kick to take it up two notches.

The Prizefighters, having just released their vinyl-only special edition of “Follow My Sound” on Jump Up! Records, will make you about half an inch shorter from all the cartilage-grinding your knees will joyfully succumb to.

Saturday, February 11th
Triple Rock Social Club
9:00 PM, 18+
$10 adv./$12 door

Check out MNSKA for all the latest details, happenings, goings-ons, reviews, discussions, and best-dressed lists.

You can get your advance tickets HERE

Asian Man Records band Classics of Love have released a new single “Castle In The Sky” from their upcoming debut full-length album.  The band features members of punk band Hard Girls and Jesse Michaels (Operation Ivy, Common Rider).  The video is directed by Bob Vielma.  You can expect the new album to drop on February 14th, 2012.

You can watch this video on YouTube HERE

Last night on the Tunnel One show on WNYU (89.1 FM New York), Brooklyn rocksteady band The Forthrights, along with Maddie Ruthless, played a live set of big tunes.  The entire episode of this weekly ska radio show is currently streaming on their website.  The live set is toward the end of the episode.  While listening to the show, I was reminded of the night last May at the Terminal Bar in Minneapolis when these guys rocked out with the MNSKA massive.  Good times!

You can stream the episode HERE

To get your week started off on the right foot, here’s a brand new video from East London reggae/dub/ska group The Skints.  The song “Ratatat” is a brand new single scheduled for release on February 27th on Penny Drop Recordings.  The band’s album Part and Parcel will be released on April 9th.  The sweet looking video was directed by Chris Hugall.

You can check out the video on YouTube HERE

A couple months back, ska-punk group Rocksteady Breakfast pumped up the crowd at the Triple Rock in Minneapolis, opening up for The Beatdown.  There is photographic evidence that this took place; we have proof!  Pictures from that show have surfaced and confirm that a good time was had by all.

If you wish to relive the magic of that night or just to witness what it’s like to rock out to Rocksteady Breakfast, click HERE

Be sure to catch RSB at the Ska-POW! Battle Of The Bands at the Triple Rock on February 2nd!

Our friends from Indiana, reggae-soul group Green Room Rockers, need your help!  As you may know, Super Bowl XLVI will be played in Indianapolis, IN on Sunday, February 5th and Rolling Stone magazine is putting on a contest to help a local band open up the Volkswagen Rock N’ Roll Tailgate Party for headliners Jane’s Addiction and The Roots.  As with most online contests, you have a limited time to vote.  Voting begins today and ends on Sunday, January 29th.  You can vote once per day.  To vote for GRR, click on the link below and click the vote button.  When it asks you to login, just connect with Facebook.

As a bonus, you can stream the band’s latest recording, a reggae version of Bob Dylan’s “Wagon Wheel.”  Also, if the band wins, frontman Mark Cooper promised to talk trash about the Patriots during the entire set!

To vote for Green Room Rockers, click HERE

“The Pinstripes/I” to be available on CD, Vinyl LP and high quality Digital Download formats on February 3rd
The street date for the brand new album from Cincinatti band The Pinstripes, “I” is a mere two weeks away! The album was recorded and mixed in Chicago, IL at Dirty North Studios with Anthony Abbinanti (the Drastics, Deal’s Gone Bad) and mastered in Cincinnati by the award winning Dave Davis of the All Night Party. “I” contains thirteen tracks, some longtime favorites of the Pinstripes live set, others that represent new steps in the Pinstripes’ evolving mix of styles. You can view the album artwork and tracklist at www.thepinstripes.net. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, “I” was officially sent into production. On Febraruy 3rd, “I” will officially be available worldwide at select record stores, all of the Pinstripes’ live shows and numerous online retailers, including  Whatevski Records.  You can preorder “I” now by visiting their brand new online store! If you order in the next two weeks, there’s a good chance you’ll even get a signed copy of the new album.

I’m personally very impressed with The Pinstripes and the work they put into this release.  All the CDs and Vinyl art is unique, original and handmade by the band themselves.  You can tell that this massively talented band wanted their debut full-length to be just right, making sure that an enormous amount of attention to detail was spent and that this labor of love was not rushed.  I’ve previewed the album and love where they are taking this genre.  True fans will not be disappointed as the release packaging is made for you!

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE PINSTRIPES ON THEIR RELEASE TOUR!  THEY ARE STOPPING IN MINNEAPOLIS ON MARCH 3RD AT THE RED SEA!

I’m pleased and excited to announce the next big SKA event: the 1st Annual Ska-POW! Battle of the Bands on February 2nd (Groundhog Day!) 2012 at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, brought to you by Tallgrass Brewing and supported in part by mnska.com!  There are 4 bands competing for the coveted Ska-POW! title belt: Rocksteady Breakfast, Liquor Beats Winter, Blue Waffle, and Stop Drop.  Our special guest emcee for the night will be Ben Crew from local Hardcore band In Defence and he’ll be overseeing this night of ska-infused mayhem.

For the 1st half of competition, each band will perform an original song, an instrumental, and a cover song.  The 2nd half, the bands will play a 4-song set of “band favorites.”  They will need to convince the panel of judges that they have what it takes to be #1.

During halftime, concert-goers can enter the Skank Dance Off and show off their sweet dance moves to the Jamaican ska tunes spun by DJ Aaron Porter (The Prizefighters).  The Skank Dance Off will be judged by locals Koo Koo Kanga Roo.  If dancing is not your thing, you can spin the wheel (for a small donation) to win some pretty cool prizes!  There will be specials on Tallgrass beer all night long!

Big thanks to Jeff Bockenhauer and the boys in Rocksteady Breakfast for putting on this event!

You can RSVP this event on Facebook HERE

1st Annual Ska-POW! Battle of the Bands
featuring
Rocksteady Breakfast
Liquor Beats Winter
Blue Waffle
Stop Drop

Triple Rock Social Club
629 Cedar Ave, Minneapolis, MN
February 2, 2012
Doors 8pm | 18+ | $5

Overproof Radio is now on the air at MNSKA.com! Starting with this, our 10th episode, you’ll be able to find this biweekly podcast of Jamaican-inspired music right here, as well as at overproof.podomatic.com. Listen to the stream below, and read on for track listings and more about the show.

I’m Matt, host of the Overproof Radio podcast, and I’m thrilled to be the newest member of the MNSKA.com team. I played in my first ska-punk band in about 1996 — and first bookmarked MNSKA.com when it was a list of band names on, like, a Geocities page — and while I have pretty much retired the trumpet, I’ve been in love with Jamaican music ever since. You’ll find that love reflected in each Overproof Radio episode; I try to capture anything and everything that catches my ear — reggae, rocksteady, dub, traditional ska, roots, dancehall, ska-punk and more are all fair game. I’d love to get your feedback on this or any episode, so make sure and keep an ear on Overproof Radio via Facebook and Twitter, or just drop me an email!

Check out the tracklist for this episode after the jump

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