Ska Like It Should Be

The late '90s saw plenty of American bands trying to take a stab at ska --- the bouncing, danceable, reggae-rock invented in Jamaica, honed in England and eventually trampled on in the United States.

No Doubt tried their hand at ska, and completely abandoned the spirit of the genre by the time "Don't Speak" came out and Gwen Stephani began fronting more magazine covers than the band that launched her. Reel Big Fish tried to jump start a ska revolution, but fell back into well deserved obscurity long ago.

Finally, a band from Los Angeles has got it right. They're called The Aggrolites. The play a brand of music they call "dirty reggae". Their sound does resemble what you'd image would come out of a smoky island club. But to me, what they play is ska in its most stripped-down, original form.

With short hair cuts, all black clothes and willingness to sweat, these boys have stayed true to the original music form, complete with a guy pounding a vintage Hammond organ to round out their authenticity. These guys blasted away at the Gypsy Tea Room on Monday night like it was a Saturday night in London in 1977. They even did a Specials tune near the end of their set, which sounded very similar to their original tunes, all set in a simple 3/4 beat.

The Aggrolites have plenty of true-to-ska material off their two albums "Dirty Reggae" and their recently released self titled album. Pop the Trunk and Mr. Misery are feature songs on both of those albums that got all 85 people in the tearoom pointing their arms to the ground and kicking their feet towards the stage. It an astonishing site in Dallas, where most audiences can't be bothered to pay attention to the band they just paid $25 to see, or even tone down their conversations. But this was a crowd that came to hear ska, many sporting heads shaved like the working class Brits who championed the music in the 60's and 70's. There were even a couple of beat-to-hell Vespas parked outside the club for effect.

Maybe Monday night is the new cool night to see authentic music with appreciative crowds. If that's right, I can't wait to ruin all upcoming Tuesday work days.