One of the cornerstone bands of the '90s punk revival, Rancid's unabashedly classicist sound drew heavily from the Clash's early records, echoing their left-leaning politics and fascination with ska, while adding a bit of post-hardcore crunch. While some critics dismissed Rancid as derivative, others praised their political commitment, surging... [+] Read More

One of the cornerstone bands of the '90s punk revival, Rancid's unabashedly classicist sound drew heavily from the Clash's early records, echoing their left-leaning politics and fascination with ska, while adding a bit of post-hardcore crunch. While some critics dismissed Rancid as derivative, others praised their political commitment, surging energy, and undeniable way with a hook. And, regardless of critical debate over their significance, the band's strengths made them perhaps the most popular neo-punk band after Green Day and the Offspring. Their third album, 1995's ...And Out Come the Wolves, made them a platinum-selling sensation and an inescapable presence on MTV and modern rock radio. While they never translated that success into an enormous blockbuster record (like the aforementioned bands who hit the mainstream first), that wasn't necessarily their ambition, choosing to stay with the independent punk label Epitaph and the creative freedom it allowed them. That decision helped them retain a large, devoted core audience as revivalist punk-pop began to slip off the mainstream's musical radar.

Rancid were formed in 1991 by San Francisco Bay Area punk scenesters Tim Armstrong (guitar/vocals) and Matt Freeman (bass). Lifelong friends and longtime punk fans, the two had grown up together in the small, working-class town of Albany, near Berkeley; they'd also played together in the legendary ska-punk band Operation Ivy, Armstrong as "Lint" and Freeman as Matt McCall. After Op Ivy disbanded in 1989, Armstrong and Freeman spent a few weeks in the ska-punk outfit Dance Hall Crashers, as well as Downfall; Freeman later briefly joined the hardcore band MDC. Meanwhile, Armstrong was waging a battle with alcoholism (but, fortunately, winning), and to help keep his friend occupied, Freeman suggested they escape their day jobs by forming a new band, which became Rancid. The duo added drummer Brett Reed, Armstrong's roommate and a familiar presence on the Gilman Street scene where Operation Ivy had cut their teeth. Just a couple of months later, Rancid were performing live around the area, and in 1992 they released a five-song debut EP on Lookout! Records.

The EP caught the attention of Brett Gurewitz and his well-respected Epitaph label, which signed Rancid to a highly favorable contract guaranteeing them a generous amount of creative control. The band's eponymously titled, first full-length album arrived in 1993, pursuing an up-tempo, hardcore/skatepunk style with few hints of early British punk. Rancid had been seeking a second guitarist, and Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong even played live with the group at one show. They pursued Lars Frederiksen, a Bay Area resident who'd joined a later incarnation of U.K. Subs and was performing with the band Slip; Frederiksen initially declined Rancid's invitation to join, but when Slip disbanded, he quickly changed his mind and came along on Rancid's first tour. Frederiksen made his recording debut on the early-1994 EP Radio Radio Radio, a side dalliance on Fat Wreck Chords. Released later that year, Let's Go was the album that made Rancid's name in the punk underground. It marked the beginnings of their fascination with the 1977-era London punk scene, particularly the Clash, and it also provided their first widespread exposure when MTV picked up on the video for the single "Salvation." Let's Go quickly went gold, and with the breakout mainstream success of Green Day and the Offspring that year, major-label interest in Rancid quickly escalated into a full-fledged bidding war (even Madonna's Maverick imprint got in on the action). Ultimately, Rancid decided that no major could offer them the level of decision-making power that Epitaph had given them, and stayed right where they were.

Rancid scored a major success with their next album, 1995's ...And Out Come the Wolves, whose title was a reference to the near-predatory interest in signing the band. The Clash fetish was even more pronounced, augmented with a greater interest in the original Two-Tone ska revival the Clash had helped influence (bands like the Specials). "Ruby Soho" was a major MTV and radio hit, and "Time Bomb" and "Roots Radicals" were hits in their own right. The album went platinum and made Rancid one of the most visible punk bands around. They played the 1996 Lollapalooza Tour, and afterward took a short break, their first since becoming a quartet. During that time, Freeman played with former X singer Exene Cervenka in Auntie Christ, while Armstrong set up the Epitaph subsidiary Hellcat; he and Frederiksen both began doing production work for other bands they hoped to spotlight.

Rancid returned in 1998 with the even more ska-heavy Life Won't Wait, a guest-star-loaded affair that featured members of ska bands the Specials and Hepcat, Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, dancehall reggae star Buju Banton, and Agnostic Front vocalist Roger Miret. While it didn't cross over on the level of ...And Out Come the Wolves, it demonstrated that Rancid retained a substantial fan base. For the 2000 follow-up, their second self-titled release, the group largely scrapped its ska-punk side, recording a visceral, hardcore-influenced album that blasted through 22 songs in under 40 minutes (in contrast to its two lengthy predecessors). Perhaps for that reason, Rancid received a highly positive response from the punk community. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Along with No Doubt, Sublime, and Rancid, the Los Angeles quartet Goldfinger helped contribute to a mini-U.S. ska-punk movement in the mid- to late '90s. The group was originally formed in 1994 by ex-Electric Love Hogs guitarist/singer John Feldmann and bassist/singer Simon Williams (who were both working at the same shoe store at the time), in... [+] Read More

Along with No Doubt, Sublime, and Rancid, the Los Angeles quartet Goldfinger helped contribute to a mini-U.S. ska-punk movement in the mid- to late '90s. The group was originally formed in 1994 by ex-Electric Love Hogs guitarist/singer John Feldmann and bassist/singer Simon Williams (who were both working at the same shoe store at the time), in addition to drummer Darrin Pfeiffer and an unnamed second guitarist (who would leave the group before any recordings could be issued and later become a pro surfer in Costa Rica). A friend of Feldmann's, Charlie Paulson, signed on shortly thereafter, playing his first show with the group just a day after being given a tape of their songs to learn. A six-track demo EP, Richter, was issued in 1995 and received favorable reviews and a substantial amount of airplay on college radio, leading to Goldfinger signing a major-label contract with Universal. Their self-titled full-length debut hit the record racks a year later, spawning the popular single/video "Here in Your Bedroom" (a track which originally appeared on their EP) and toured alongside the Sex Pistols, No Doubt, Reel Big Fish, and the multi-band festival the Vans Warped Tour.

1997 saw the release of their second full-length, Hang Up's, which failed to live up to the expectations set by their debut, although the group kept their profile in the public's eye by donating a cover of the Spiral Starecase song "More Today Than Yesterday" to the soundtrack of the hit Adam Sandler movie The Waterboy. Williams left the band in 1998, replaced by a former bandmate of Feldmann's from Electric Love Hogs, Kelly Lemieux, and Goldfinger debuted their new lineup with the eight-track all-covers live EP, Darrin's Coconut Ass: Live, a year later. The quartet's third studio release, Stomping Ground, was issued in 2000 as the group thoroughly toured both Europe and the U.S. (during their tour of England, Goldfinger recorded one of their sets, issuing the live Foot in Mouth, available only at shows and through the band's official website). Come 2001, it was Paulson's turn to jump ship, replaced by Brian Arthur (formerly of the Texas alt-metal outfit Unloco), as Goldfinger's first studio album for their new label, Jive/Zoomba, was issued in 2002 with Open Your Eyes. Disconnection Notice from 2005 found the group switching to the Maverick label. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide [-] Hide

A great deal of the groundwork for the mid- to late-'90s explosion of ska and ska-metal was laid by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who were one of the first bands to cross high-energy ska with hardcore punk and heavy metal and also helped shift its tone toward testosterone-filled party music. The Bosstones built up a devoted cult following... [+] Read More

A great deal of the groundwork for the mid- to late-'90s explosion of ska and ska-metal was laid by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who were one of the first bands to cross high-energy ska with hardcore punk and heavy metal and also helped shift its tone toward testosterone-filled party music. The Bosstones built up a devoted cult following throughout their career, but their level of commercial success never quite matched that of more pop-oriented third-wave ska bands, like No Doubt and Sublime, who followed in their wake; however, the band did achieve a long-overdue breakthrough in 1997 with the modern-rock radio smash "The Impression That I Get."

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones formed in 1985 in Boston, featuring Tim Bridewell, Dicky Barrett (vocals), Nate Albert (guitar), Joe Gittleman (bass), Josh Dalsimer (drums), and Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton (saxophone), plus dancer Ben Carr. While all the members shared a love of ska, their tastes also ran elsewhere; Barrett, in particular, was involved in the local straight-edge hardcore scene and played with a band called Impact Unit. Originally calling themselves simply the Bosstones, the group appended "Mighty Mighty" to their name after discovering a Boston-area a cappella group with an identical moniker. The group appeared on a ska compilation, but then disbanded temporarily to allow Albert to finish high school. In 1989, the Bosstones re-formed and recorded their debut album, Devils Night Out, which was released in 1990 on Taang! Records. The follow-up, 1992's More Noise and Other Disturbances, saw several personnel shifts; Bridewell and Dalsimer departed, the latter to attend college, and the two were replaced by drummer Joe Sirois, saxophonist Kevin Lenear, and trombonist Dennis Brockenborough, a lineup that lasted through much of the band's career. 1992 also saw the release of the Where'd You Go EP, which contained several hard rock covers.

In 1993, the Bosstones signed a major-label deal with Mercury and released Don't Know How to Party; in spite of their fondness for plaid, a holdover from their early pajama-clad gigs, the group also landed a television commercial for a jean company. 1994 saw the band paying homage to their hardcore roots with a mini-album of mostly covers, Ska-Core, the Devil and More, as well as the full-length Question the Answers, one of their finest efforts. A year later, the Bosstones appeared in the film Clueless, performing "Where'd You Go" and "Someday I Suppose," two of their most popular numbers; they also landed a main-stage slot on that summer's Lollapalooza tour.

Even if their music often strays far afield from classic Two-Tone ska revival (especially their earlier material), the Bosstones, unlike many of their contemporaries, have retained some of that movement's political consciousness. In 1996, the band helped organize the Safe and Sound benefit album in response to Boston-area family planning clinic slayings, and also perform frequently at benefit shows for battered women's groups; most of their concerts also feature information booths from the Anti-Racist Action Group. In 1997, the breakthrough of ska-pop bands like No Doubt and Sublime paved the way for the accessible, Two-Tone-inspired Let's Face It to become the band's biggest-selling album yet; it was eventually certified platinum, buoyed by the success of the anthemic "The Impression That I Get," which fell just short of topping the modern rock charts that summer. Live From the Middle East followed in 1998 as a stopgap release, and the band experienced its first personnel shifts in some time: saxophonist Lenear was the first to leave, replaced by Roman "The Showman" Fleysher, and guitarist Albert departed again, partly to care for an ailing family member and partly to finish his education at Brown University (Kevin Stevenson of the Shods had already served as his temporary touring substitute in 1997). Albert's replacement, Lawrence Katz, signed on after the band completed the follow-up to Let's Face It; titled Pay Attention, the record was released in the spring of 2000, and produced another modern rock radio hit in "So Sad to Say." A Jackknife to a Swan appeared two years later. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

With the return of the punks in the mid-'90s came a resurgence of their slightly more commercial rivals, new wave bands. No Doubt found a niche as a new wave/ska band, on the strength of vocalist Gwen Stefani's persona -- alternately an embrace of little-girl-lost innocence and riot grrrl feminism -- exemplified on the band's breakout single,... [+] Read More

With the return of the punks in the mid-'90s came a resurgence of their slightly more commercial rivals, new wave bands. No Doubt found a niche as a new wave/ska band, on the strength of vocalist Gwen Stefani's persona -- alternately an embrace of little-girl-lost innocence and riot grrrl feminism -- exemplified on the band's breakout single, "Just a Girl."

Formed in early 1987 as a ska band inspired by Madness, the lineup of No Doubt initially comprised John Spence, Gwen Stefani, and her brother Eric. While playing the party-band circuit around Anaheim, the trio picked up bassist Tony Kanal, born in India but raised in Great Britain and the U.S. Hardened by the suicide of Spence in December 1987, No Doubt nevertheless continued; Gwen became the lone vocalist and the group added guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young.

No Doubt's live act began to attract regional interest, and Interscope Records signed them in 1991. The band's debut a year later, an odd fusion of '80s pop and ska, sank without a trace in the wake of the grunge movement. As a result, Interscope refused to support No Doubt's tour or further recordings. The band responded by recording on their own during 1993-1994; the result was the self-released Beacon Street Collection, much rawer and more punk-inspired than the debut. Eric Stefani left just after its release, later working as an animator for The Simpsons.

By late 1994, Interscope allowed recordings to resume, and Tragic Kingdom was released in October 1995. The album served as a document of the breakup of Gwen Stefani and Kanal, whose relationship had lasted seven years. Thanks to constant touring and the appearance of "Just a Girl" and "Spiderwebs" on MTV's Buzz Bin, the album hit the Top Ten in 1996. Stefani, who has made no secret of her pop ambitions, became a centerpiece of attention as an alternative to the crop of tough girls prevalent on the charts. By the end of the year, Tragic Kingdom hit number one on the album charts, almost a year after its first release; the record's third single, the ballad "Don't Speak," was the band's biggest hit to date.

No Doubt's much-anticipated follow-up, The Return of Saturn, was released in the spring of 2000, and "Simple Kind of Life" and "Ex-Girlfriend" were both critically successful at the mainstream and college levels. A year later, Stefani also hooked up with rap chanteuse Eve for the single "Let Me Blow Your Mind" (it went on to earn a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in 2002); however, Stefani also joined her band for the release of their fifth album. The ska revival and new wave sounds of Rock Steady were issued hot on the heels of debut single "Hey Baby" in December 2001. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide [-] Hide

One of the first bands to fuse revivalist ska with the energy and aggression of post-hardcore punk rock (after the Mighty Mighty Bosstones), Operation Ivy were also one of the few ska-punk bands to earn critical acclaim. Part of the reason was that they were one of the genre's innovators, possessed of a freshness that many of their imitators... [+] Read More

One of the first bands to fuse revivalist ska with the energy and aggression of post-hardcore punk rock (after the Mighty Mighty Bosstones), Operation Ivy were also one of the few ska-punk bands to earn critical acclaim. Part of the reason was that they were one of the genre's innovators, possessed of a freshness that many of their imitators lacked, but their lyrics were often more intelligent and substantive as well. Thanks to their early breakup (the group was only together for two years), Operation Ivy became an enduring, even legendary influence in the neo-punk underground, especially after half of the band went on to hit it big in a new group, Rancid.

Operation Ivy were formed in Berkeley, CA, in May 1987 out of the ashes of several local bands. Lead singer Jesse Michaels, guitarist Lint (born Tim Armstrong), bassist Matt McCall (born Matt Freeman, renamed after the hero of the TV series The Equalizer), and drummer Dave Mello began playing extensively at the famed Gilman Street club, a center of the Bay Area's burgeoning punk revival scene. (Initially, they had no horn section, though sax player Paul Bae would later join them on selected recordings.) They quickly signed with the local punk label Lookout, and appeared on two compilations by the end of the year: the label sampler The Thing That Ate Floyd, and the Maximum Rock'n'Roll magazine sampler Turn It Around. In 1988, they released an EP titled Hectic and toured the country, playing small-scale punk venues.

With a budding reputation as an excellent live band, EMI offered Operation Ivy a major-label deal. Unsure of how to react to the prospect of success -- both because of their independent politics and local-mindedness -- the band chose to break up rather than compromise their intentions, playing their last show in May 1989. Their debut full-length album, Energy, was released on Lookout several months later, and became a touchstone of the third wave ska revival largely through word of mouth. Michaels went on to sing with Big Rig before leaving music; varying accounts hold that he became either a Buddhist monk or a Central American missionary, and may have returned to the U.S. to work for Lookout. Mello joined Schlong and then reunited briefly with Armstrong and Freeman in Downfall, which released an album on Lookout in 1995. Armstrong and Freeman, reverting to their real names, formed Rancid in 1991; their Clash-inspired punk and ska helped make them one of the most popular bands of the '90s punk revival, after Green Day and the Offspring. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The year 1996 was a breakthrough year for a new sound: the fusion of ska and punk. The Suicide Machines debuted, Less Than Jake made their major-label debut, but no one had more success with this new sound than Goldfinger on their self-titled debut. That could be because the band went even farther with their genre-bending, throwing metal and a... [+] Read More

The year 1996 was a breakthrough year for a new sound: the fusion of ska and punk. The Suicide Machines debuted, Less Than Jake made their major-label debut, but no one had more success with this new sound than Goldfinger on their self-titled debut. That could be because the band went even farther with their genre-bending, throwing metal and a touch of reggae into the mix. Or it could be because songs like the hit "Here in Your Bedroom" and "Mabel" are irresistibly catchy, creative, and, with such self-effacing lyrics as the maybe-size-does-matter line in "Mabel," hopelessly endearing. The album is an emotional roller coaster, from the self-affirming "Bedroom" ("You have changed/Cuz I still feel the same") to the confusion of "Mind's Eye" ("Every time that I see you/I act like a different man") to the oh-well-I-give-up humor of "My Girlfriend's Shower Sucks" ("It's like the shower's going pee"). And there's plenty of anger and aggression left over for songs like "Answers." The album went gold in 1998. ~ Ron DePasquale, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Not only is Pezcore the record that kicked off Less Than Jake's underground success, but it also inspired a million suburban ska-punk bands all across the U.S. Depending on your perspective, LTJ is praised and cursed for being this influential. But who wouldn't be inspired after listening to Pezcore? The music is an instant party conveniently... [+] Read More

Not only is Pezcore the record that kicked off Less Than Jake's underground success, but it also inspired a million suburban ska-punk bands all across the U.S. Depending on your perspective, LTJ is praised and cursed for being this influential. But who wouldn't be inspired after listening to Pezcore? The music is an instant party conveniently packaged into a compact disc (or LP depending on your preferred format). The energy is thick, the level of fun is high, and the cynicism is nowhere to be found upon hearing the ska guitar riffs. Besides, hits like "Liquor Store," "My Very Own Flag," and "One Last Cigarette" could put a smile on the harshest anti-ska head. ~ Mike DaRonco, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Among the best works of the rightfully maligned ska/punk genre, Operation Ivy'sEnergy is an unsurpassed, highly intelligent, extremely fun record. At the pinnacle of the East Bay punk scene, Operation Ivy sadly fizzled out just before the record was released, but left its mark and is frequently cited as an inspiration to all the bands that came... [+] Read More

Among the best works of the rightfully maligned ska/punk genre, Operation Ivy'sEnergy is an unsurpassed, highly intelligent, extremely fun record. At the pinnacle of the East Bay punk scene, Operation Ivy sadly fizzled out just before the record was released, but left its mark and is frequently cited as an inspiration to all the bands that came later and played the same sort of music, though never as well. Bassist Matt Freeman and guitarist Tim Armstrong, who eventually formed Rancid, provided the musical foundation for the band, a then novel mix of raging punk and catchy ska, while singer/lyricist Jesse Michaels wrote thoughtful political songs from a personal perspective. The result, on this, their only full-length, was an album full of classic anthems which every one of their rabid fans at Berkeley's Gilman Street used to sing along to at their packed shows. From "Knowledge," a song covered by Green Day, to "Bankshot," a fantastic ska instrumental, to "One of These Days," a punk rock reworking of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walking," to the incisive political commentary of "Gonna Find You" and "Freeze Up," Energy succeeds at combining all sorts of elements into a thoroughly rewarding knockout of a record . The CD also includes Operation Ivy's exceptional Hectic 7", as well as several hard-to-find cuts from various compilations. ~ Adam Bregman, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Running chronologically backwards through the Dance Hall Crashers' archives, Old Record (1989-1992) bundles up in its entirety their self-titled debut album, along with a trio of earlier recordings, their contribution to the California Ska-Quake compilation, and a hat trick of new songs. Therefore, the compilation closes with what was the band's... [+] Read More

Running chronologically backwards through the Dance Hall Crashers' archives, Old Record (1989-1992) bundles up in its entirety their self-titled debut album, along with a trio of earlier recordings, their contribution to the California Ska-Quake compilation, and a hat trick of new songs. Therefore, the compilation closes with what was the band's initial statement of intent, the exhilarating "DHC," while also found dangling at the bottom of the set is the exuberant "Skinhead BBQ," both songs dating from 1989. It wasn't long before DHC caught the ear of Moon Records, and set to walk on their debut album, a giddy mixture of poppy punk rock and ska, built around a mid-tempo beat, with the band's signature dual vocals to the fore, and boasting lashings of guitar and strong, horn-drenched melodies. It was a distinctive mix that was not only far removed from the ska emanating off the east coast, but was equally unique on their own side of the continental divide.

DHC folded just as Dance Hall Crashers hit the shops, but came back together for a one-off show at San Francisco's Slim's in 1992. So rabid was the audience response to their appearance that the group decided to permanently re-form there and then. The compilation opens with the three numbers that DHC wrote and recorded soon after that happy event. The rocking "Othello," the more delicate skanker "Nuisance," and the effervescent, harmony drenched "North Pole" all boding well for the future. And so the DHC story is brought straight up to date, and a new chapter now beckons. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide [-] Hide

With No Doubt and Sublime having dominated the pop airwaves in 1996, it wasn't too much of a stretch for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones to hope for similar success, even if their sound was louder and heavier overall -- after all, they had been arguably the best-known ska band in the American underground for some time and had laid much of the... [+] Read More

With No Doubt and Sublime having dominated the pop airwaves in 1996, it wasn't too much of a stretch for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones to hope for similar success, even if their sound was louder and heavier overall -- after all, they had been arguably the best-known ska band in the American underground for some time and had laid much of the groundwork for the style's commercial success. So the Bosstones took their time with Let's Face It, crafting a catchy, solidly written record with accessible mainstream production courtesy of longtime collaborator Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade. The results paid immediate dividends, with "The Impression That I Get" becoming a runaway smash on modern-rock radio and pushing the album into the Top 30 (it eventually went platinum). Some longtime fans complained that the band had toned down their manic metal tendencies too much in their push for mainstream acceptance, but really, Let's Face It simply draws more upon other influences the band had had all along. It's the Bosstones album most inspired by the British Two-Tone movement of the early '80s, when pop melodies and pleas for tolerance and equality were often as important as the grooves -- and that's certainly the case here, as the band turns in probably their most substantive set of lyrics to date. There are a few punky hard rock numbers, too, and even if they don't quite have the hard-partying energy of past efforts in that vein, they are well-constructed songs that keep the album's momentum flowing. Even if the production is a tiny bit slick, and the playing time is rather short (a little over half an hour), it's still difficult to view Let's Face It as anything but a rousing success and easily one of the band's best albums. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide