The Aggrolites - IV
Before I go off on a tangent (and I surely plan to do so), I want to say this. I really dig The Aggrolites. I thought their last album left a little to be desired but their “Self Titled” album and their newest release “IV” are both jaw-droppingly amazing Ska albums. But here’s where my tangent begins. The Aggrolites are not a Ska band. They proudly fly the banner of a genre they’ve coined known as “dirty reggae”. On the back cover of their album it even says as much, saying that dirty reggae is “their signature fusion of reggae, soul, grit, and determination”. I gotta be honest, great musicians or not (they are), great album or not (it is), all this focus on genre is ridiculous. It’s ridiculous for the sole reason that The Aggrolites are a Ska band. They can call themselves whatever they want but the bottom line is they’re turning their backs on their own niche genre by creating a bullshit sub-niche.
I understand that after the Third Wave of Ska died out at the end of the Nineties it left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths. It was a matter of there just being too many damn bands trying to cash in on being “Ska”. They had stupid names with “Ska” in them like “Skavenger”, “Skabba the Hut”, and “Goldfinger”. They wore stupid costumes like that dude in Save Ferris with the teddy bear hat. Good bands got a bad rap because bands like No Doubt and Sublime had radio hits and were lumped into the genre even though they were barely in it to begin with. Ska was featured in crap-ass movies like “Clueless”, cough, Bosstones, cough, cough. Punk bands like Propaghandi wrote songs about Ska sucking and the bands only being “in it for the bucks”. Meanwhile First Wave Ska legends like the late great Desmond Dekker couldn’t afford airfare to the States to make it to his own gigs. It was a fucked situation and basically blew up in a lot of people’s faces. And for these reasons I understand The Aggrolites wanting to distance themselves from it. But…
During the Third Wave there were a ton of phenomenal bands too. Mephiskapheles and Inspector 7 ruled the lower east side of NYC with an iron fist (err saxophone). Bands like The Pietasters, The Slackers, The Toasters and The Allstonians were/are serious musicians and weren’t in it for the fashion or movie deals. Men like King Django of the Stubborn All Stars were called “King” for a reason. And despite “Clueless” and knocking on wood, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were one of the best live bands I’ve seen to this day and fused Ska and Hardcore like no one before or since. Jesus, Rancid had one of their biggest hits with Timebomb which was a Two-Tone Ska song if there ever was one. And I haven’t even mentioned Fishbone or Hepcat yet. So, why ignore this and sweep it under the rug? The Aggrolites should instead embrace these aspects of Ska and maybe even usher in a Fourth Wave. If there’s any band to do it, it’s them.
I don’t know what it is about The Aggrolites. I don’t know if it’s the instruments they play, the equipment they record with, or just the joy they bring to their music, but I’ll be damned if sometimes it blows my mind that this was recorded in the last year. I mean they have the authentic First Wave Ska sound that other bands would kill for. If you forget yourself for a moment and lose yourself in the music you’d think it was made in the late Sixties/early Seventies. The rhythm, the beat, and the spirit is indistinguishable from the songs of Ska pioneers like The Upsetters, Prince Buster, Simaryp, and The Maytals in the best possible way. They’re funky and soulful as shit. And like Third Wave Ska stars and fellow Hellcat alums Hepcat they have that smooth West Coast flavor that chills you out. It’s just one of the most refreshing albums I’ve heard in a long time. They make me want to put on my boots and braces and mash up the nation. Plain and simple. I listen to this album and something inside me just wants to skank along. You know what? Eff it. They can call themselves whatever the hell they want. Just so long as they keep making music like this. Buy “IV”, hit play, and let the summer begin.
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