Single Review by MNSKA contributor Adam Vermillion

We received an e-mail the other day here at the MNSKA offices from some lads across the Pond going by the moniker of Counting Coins.  They asked us to review their new single “Blue on Blue,” due out for public consumption on 07/01/2013 (or for our friends in the UK, 01/07/2013).

You’ll definitely want to check these guys out.  Their single is catchy, political, and filled with raucous energy.

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Life, Man by Lumpy
Review by Thomas “Bari Sax” Enget

Lumpy is the musical project of Bryan Highhill, former member of MNSka favorites the P. Lacquers.  Life, Man is the second album from Lumpy, and it’s definitely a pleasing listen, whether one is familiar with the band or not.

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The Magic of Youth
Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Released December 6, 2011
Big Rig Records

 Review by Tom “Bari Sax” Enget

After 25 years together, the legendary Bosstones are at it again.  Their ninth studio album, The Magic of Youth, is another solid effort from the Boston Ska-Core pioneers who have never really released a bad album.  It drops just short of two years to the day that they released Pin Points and Gin Joints, their well-regarded eighth album that was their first since 2002’s A Jackknife to a Swan.  After all those years, Pin Points and Youth show that the Bosstones haven’t lost a step; they’re still a great band, capable of great things.

While Pin Points was geared more towards Ska, The Magic of Youth actually draws more from the Bosstone’s poppier influences, alá Let’s Face It.  That’s not to say Ska isn’t stylistically present here, but it’s not as omni-present as on other records.  There’s also some similarities here with some of the band’s b-sides and unreleased material from the late 1990s (free downloads of all sorts of Bosstones’ rarities can be found on the band’s fan forum HERE).  The feel and sound is slick—but not overly slick.  It’s comfortably poppy in the Bosstone’s own way; frontman Dicky Barrett hardly ever raises his voice to his trademark raspy roar, sticking instead to smoother singing.  For a Ska band, the Bosstones are capable of producing a big sound in the studio—not quite wall-of-sound levels, but bigger than most Ska bands choose to create.

[check out the rest of the review after the jump]

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Superczar and the Vulture
Lionize
Released December 6th, 2011
Pentimento Music

Review by Tom “Bari Sax” Enget

It’s always interesting finding a new band that you like.  Sometimes a friend recommends them to you, with a friendly “hey, check these guys out!”  A well-placed advertisement or a single on the radio can motivate you to investigate further.  And then, sometimes, life imitates StumbleUpon, and you just happen upon something great.  Such is the case for me with Lionize, who hail from Silver Spring, Maryland.  The quartet plays bluesy Hard Rock mixed with Reggae, with a dash of Dub thrown in for taste.  I discovered them at the recent Streetlight Manifesto/Reel Big Fish show at the Cabooze; they were one of two opening bands that I had somehow neglected to note, which made the discovery more surprising, and even a little sweeter.

After listening to the great set Lionize played at that show, I picked up their brand-new album released December 6^th of 2011, entitled, Superczar and the Vulture (it’s also their second album of 2011).  I’m glad I did; there’s plenty here to like.

[read the rest of the review after the jump]

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Dave over at DThrog Ska Review recently reviewed the new full-length Follow My Sound from MNSKA band The Prizefighters.  After awarding the album 4/5 stars, he adds:

I highly recommend this album. The Prizefighters kept their fans waiting for a long time before coming out with the first full-length release, but the wait is worth it.

You can read the full review of Follow My Sound HERE

In lieu of the upcoming concert featuring the Green Room Rockers, DJ Reverend Evan took the time to review their self-titled CD for MNSKA.  Evan was the DJ of the long-running Rude Radio show, but has since passed the torch to a new DJ.  The Green Room Rockers show is happening on Saturday, January 22nd at The Red Sea in Minneapolis and will be featuring The Pinstripes, The Dropsteppers and Secondhand Ska Kings, to which you can win a pair of tickets.

You can check out the review after the jump.

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The Rocksteady Queen of New Orleans and newfound friend of MNSKA, Maddie Ruthless, is dropping her new record on Saturday, September 11th on Community Records.  The album is called Hold The Phone by Maddie Ruthless & The Secret Affair.  You can download the album for FREE and you can order the 10″ vinyl + CD at the label’s website.  MNSKA album reviewer Tom “Bari Sax” Enget has posted his full review of the record after the jump.

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Our friends over at Alternative Press have posted their review of the new Streetlight Manifesto album 99 Songs Of Revolution: Volume 1.  The album, comprised of all cover songs,  is due out on Victory Records on March 16.

You can read the full review HERE

Punk rock blog Punknews.org posted a mostly positive review of the MNSKA Mixtape Volume One, giving it a grade of 3.5/5 stars.  The album is a compilation  released in 2009 that contains songs from 20 different ska bands from Minnesota.  Here’s what he had to say about our ska scene:

Minnesota isn’t generally considered a hotbed of ska music by any means. Sure, we have one of the world’s foremost pop-punk scenes alongside Gainesville and Chicago, an illustrious history of hardcore, and one of the best crust communities this side of the West Coast, but there have been few acts to emerge from what is actually a fairly vibrant ska scene in the nation’s icebox. This compilation seeks to change that, or at the very least shed some light on what’s going on ska-wise in the Gopher state.

In retrospect, what really is a hotbed of ska these days? The biggest names in the genre are from all different parts of the country. Don’t believe me? Look: Reel Big Fish (Orange County), Less Than Jake (Gainesville), Mustard Plug (Grand Rapids), Streetlight Manifesto (New Jersey), the Slackers (New York), Bosstones (duh). If any city can field a release of 20 talented ska bands, it should be celebrated, and that’s exactly what this compilation does.

Welcome to another edition of Miss Upsetter’s Retro Vinyl Review!  Miss Upsetter is originally from Arizona where she was very involved with the ska scene and used to run the now-defunct ska site Get Up Edina! Being the vinyl junkie that she is, she posted many quick-hit reviews of some classic ska and reggae albums on that site.  We have unearthed these reviews and will share as many as we can for a somewhat daily review segment.

Today’s review is of the album More Specials by The Specials (2-Tone Records):

This album definitely shows The Specials transition to maturity and heading toward the “muzak” sound that Terry Hall wanted.  I actually like this album the more out of their two full-lenghs.  Songs like “Sock it to em J.B” and “Man at C&A” constantly get stuck in my head.  I’ve heard people argue that this album was “a terrible attempt” at a musical transition for the band, but I beg to differ.  I think in comparison to their self-titled album, this one shows a lot more creativity and breaks away from the same old songs that they covered.