Legendary third-wave ska band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones have returned with their 11th studio album
When God Was Great, which contains the single “The Killing Of Georgie Part III,” which references the murder of George Floyd, which is relevant, well-intentioned, and a towering achievement in the field of no.
Its video features Ben Carr, the band’s main dancer or “Bosstone player” bopping joyfully (which, no) around the streets of Boston while the song’s lyrics appear on walls, so that as you are hearing them and thinking “no,” you can actually read them, confirm that you have heard them correctly, and say, out loud, “No.” “We were so close to something that we all could get behind,” lead screamer Dickie Barrett screams (raising the question “were we?” which, looking back over the last few years, no), “and we could have made a difference, but the stars were not aligned.” A real Mercury in retrograde situation, this whole police brutality thing, righ
Type criticism of ska music into Google and you ll likely come across webpages such as 10 Things You Hate About Ska or Everyone Hates Ska. Of course, it s not true. Tons of people love the relentless upbeat nature of ska, yet it s a very divisive genre. click to enlarge Book Cover Courtesy Of Cam Evans
IN DEFENSE OF SKA Over the course of more than 300 pages, Aaron Carnes explains why ska music deserves your respect through countless interviews, personal essays, and obscure anecdotes. Enter
Good Times music editor Aaron Carnes, which came out May 4 on Clash Books. Though it s aimed at ska haters, hoping to change their minds, the book is essential reading for ska lovers.
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Every month, a deluge of new books comes flooding out from big publishers, indie houses, and self-publishing platforms. So every month, The A.V. Club narrows down the endless options to five of the books we’re most excited about.
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We’re big fans of essays that combine cultural criticism with memoir, and Larissa Pham’s
Pop Song especially sings when the writer turns her eye to art and pop culture. In her debut book of nonfiction memoir by way of interconnected essays Pham interweaves a recounting of her life thus far with her thoughts on James Turrell, Anne Carson, Frank Ocean, and Agnes Martin (extra points for not mentioning Maggie Nelson in “Blue,” Pham’s essay on Martin). Through her sensitive, curious telling, Pham lobbies for the way in which art can help people learn more about themselves.