Cru Jones Society

How many rude boys does it take to screw in a light bulb? One to drop it and three to pick it up, pick it up, pick it up. If that joke makes any sense to you at all, then you like myself, are a fan of ska music. Don’t get me wrong, punk rock is my first and true love. But sometimes I sneak around on her with a mistress known as ska. Now I love punk and she will always be the one I go to, but sometimes she doesn’t want to have the fun ska does. Sometimes she is angry and depressing and I just seek the upbeat and smile of my mistress. This is why I love ska, please, if you see punk rock, don’t tell her about it.

The relationship I have with ska wasn’t always the one I had with it. In fact it is the opposite. I used to hate the entire genre. Then again I was a teenager and I hated most things. What bugged me the most about it was it felt way too uppity and happy. I wanted my music to be dark and angry sounding. I wanted 3 chords, minor notes, and I wanted it played fast and fuming. I didn’t want horns and guitars played on the up-strum. I never gave it a fair chance, otherwise I would have found out that a lot of the lyrics were cynical and just as pissed off as the punk I was listening to at the time.

Another huge problem I had was when ska first came into my life I had a very snobbish and closed minded attitude. Certain bands like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and No Doubt, back when they were a ska band, were getting radio play. This music was becoming mainstream. And to my punker than thou ears, that was blasphemy. Real music isn’t found on the radio or Mtv, it’s found in garages and blah blah blah. I was what I eventually have come to hate, a music asshole. It’s music! Where it’s heard doesn’t determine if it is good or bad, and in the end good or bad are relative terms.

I think I got off track there. The real point is I thought ska sucked and I hated it. To my ears the worst offenders were The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, for what I believed was them selling out (actually they bought in). Less Than Jake for the only song I actually heard from them at the time, “Dopeman.” And Reel Big Fish because I hated their look and their dancing around, you know, the most important parts of what make a band worth listening to. What these bands have in common is I thought their music was all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. I would later find out how wrong I was about this.

When I first started to come around to ska I got on board with bands like Five Iron Frenzy and The Insyderz, bands on the Christian tip. I still maintain the Insyderz would be a cool band if they weren’t so keen on Jesus. I have nothing in particular against those who choose Christianity as their faith, that’s not what I’m here to do. There was a time when this was a big part of my life, but now hearing song after song about the subject is just not my bag.

What I do get a kick out of about Christian ska bands is the fact that they exist at all. A ska band generally takes a larger amount of members than a standard band. So the fact that they are able to find so many people who are like minded in their beliefs and musical taste is really impressive. But I want to move away from the Christian ska now.

I started getting a little into ska, started giving it more of a chance, but I wasn’t about to just give in to those bands I hated. As far as I was concerned they were still awful and I hated that they were often lumped together with the music I loved.

Then came the year I met Dagger. Our friendship began a lot in the same way my relationship with ska began. At first we both hated each other. Much in the way I was hesitant to give ska a chance I was hesitant to give Dagger a chance. It’s no coincidence my distaste for Dagger and ska wore off at the same time.

As I befriended Dagger, who was way more into ska than anyone else I knew, I was fully introduced to a little band known as the Mad Caddies. I had heard one song by them before and mostly wrote it off as just another goofy ska song. Shortly there after the Mad Caddies brought their tour through our fair state. I still wasn’t fully into ska, but No Use For a Name was playing with them, and I wanted to hang out with my friends, so I went to my first ska show, well not including when I reluctantly saw Less Than Jake at the Warped Tour. I was waiting for MxPx to come on and Less Than Jake was playing before them on the adjacent stage. That strikes me as a weird sentence to be writing considering my taste now. But I guess that’s life.

So there I was at the Bluebird Theater, pushed up against the stage, at my first ska show. That was my turning point on ska. There was so much positive energy circulating through the venue. It was something I had never experienced. This was the first time I felt everyone at the show was having an awesome time. The band looked to be having fun, the music was fast and upbeat, and people made space for others the skank the night away.

I was now a full fledge Caddies fan. I couldn’t get enough of them, and as I listened to more I came to realize ska music wasn’t all sunny happy raindrop farts that the horns had me believing. The lyrics were much deeper, angrier, and bleaker than I ever anticipated. Then I gave Less Than Jake another shot, trying songs other than “Dopeman.” I again was shocked at what I was missing out on. Less Than Jake was perfect as they had many songs revolving around the theme of growing up and the uncertainty of what the future holds: the essential end of high school anthem.

Ska music had made its way into my regular rotation. I couldn’t get enough. But I still wasn’t ready to give into the Bosstones or Reel Big Fish.  I still had my principals, however idiotic they were. I came around on the Bosstones a year or so later, but I kept Reel Big Fish out of my collection, and mostly out of my life, up until about a year ago. But Dagger kept playing “Hate You,” until it was stuck in my head I had little choice but to give in.

Coming around on ska was the first step I took in becoming more open minded about music. While I will always choose punk or ska first, I am not completely opposed to listen to other styles. Classic rock, country, even whatever the hell genre Neal Diamond is a part of, it all started with ska for me. Whenever life is down and I need to pick it up, pick it up, pick it up, I do not hesitate to reach for some ska.

See ya in the skank circle…

lee.s.hart@crujonessociety.com