Skank For Choice - 2020 Quarantine Compilation (review)
This charity album for reproductive rights compiles ideal representation of all corners of third-wave ska from all corners of the country.
Score: 9/10
When Jeremy Hunter of the YouTube channel SkaTune Network was interviewed by Vice, he described the genre by saying “its versatility is incredible. You can get all the aggressive, fast energy as you can in punk to all the slow, jazzy vibes in more traditional styles. The genre is very open to fusion.” His channel of roughly 200 ska versions of everything from pop songs to video game themes is a testament to that description.
In February, Hunter uploaded a video called “10 Ska Bands you NEED to be supporting in 2020 (and beyond)” because of how stagnant ska can be due to only talking about the same bands that have been around for decades like: Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger, Big D and the Kid’s Table. There’s been new blood in the game for a while, we just need to bring them up when the discussions come up on forums like Reddit.
That’s when Hunter listed the RGV’s Los Skagaleros as a ska band to watch out for. He invited their baritone saxophone player, Denni Arjona, to gig with him in Connecticut for his band JER. This new connection helped Arjona’s other major project: Skank For Choice.
SFC is an annual benefit concert, founded by Arjona, for reproductive and abortion rights organizations. With her new exposure to nationwide connections, she put together a livestream festival with more ska and punk bands than ever before, then released this charity compilation that includes some of those who participated. In doing so, she also put together Hunter’s vision of exposure for newer ska bands that deserve a boost.
This album does justice for a music community that has over 60 years of history, it’s own slang, and it’s own dance. It’s a compilation that exhibits decades-worth of ska influences and sounds, along with peripheral genres, from coast to coast and the Tex-Mex border. The counter-cultural and working-class vibe of ska is completed by the albums’s charity cause, music from under-the-radar bands, and sense of unity during the current self-isolation measures.
By obligation, the album is full of skank guitar chords, springy bass counter-melodies, and prominent brass sections, but that’s an oversimplification. This is a Rolodex of the many possibilities and iterations of third-wave ska and beyond.
Right away we get familiarized with the harsh dissonant guitar and guttural shouts of skacore by The Best of the Worst. Later on, we hear Los Skagaleros’s and Molotov Compromise’s take on the style and each of them create their own uniquely striking sound.
Omnigone’s cover of Quentel The Crytip’s If You Were Here comes with the skater pop-punk energy and angst that’s fit for a Tony Hawk video game soundtrack. JER contributed two songs and both have the most pristine and distinct pop melodies on the album. Los Rude Waves’s Spokecard is an adventurous instrumental that dives into 2tone ska and surf rock.
A major highlight is Fantástico’s First Love. It’s a punk version of an arena-rock power ballad, creating a sentimental and anthemic quality without sacrificing the band’s rawness or Esther Martinez’s signature bratty SoCal vocals.
The purpose of this album is to raise funds for abortion rights organizations through Bandcamp purchases, but the foundation of the album’s enjoyment is the musical exploration. It may feel disappointing to know that each of these songs have been previously released. Which means the lyrical content is rarely political or unified by theme. On the flip side, this means it isn’t preachy or repetitive. It’s a full-on punk and ska fest that brings a variety of stories and perspectives from around the country such as: mind-destroying technology (We’ve Been Held Captive,) contemplating life at rock bottom (This is How Partying Saved My Life,) death and self-pity (To The Cleaners,) and a slew of other topics.
It also makes the few political moments more digestible. Dang!t’s cover of NOFX’s The Idiots Are Taking Over is straightforward, but is made more topical by swapping in references to climate change denialism, anti-vaxxers, and Donald Trump. The Canción Cannibal Cabaret is known for their poetic lyricism, and uses The Clash’s London Calling for a song about Latino and border issues, along with global doom and conflict that stacks up well to the original. “The icecaps are melting. The hurricanes are near. The mass shooting madmen. The terrorists live here.”
It went beyond the RGV, beyond the regression of third-wave ska, and beyond what a typical compilation album can do. It’s refreshing to hear modern bands play modern songs in a genre dominated by the same 90’s veterans. The 2018 RGV-centric album '“Wild Tongue” set a new standard for local compilations, which this collection easily fulfills.
Score: 9/10
Listen to and purchase 2020 Quarantine Compilation on Bandcamp here