AARON CARNES "In Defense Of Ska" BOOK
IN DEFENSE OF SKA BOOK REVIEW:
It’s good. I enjoyed most of the stories, specifically reading more about the Dance Craze movie, all the @fishbonesoldier stories are amazing, reading about bands that I know of but never got into like Gangster Fun, The Untouchables, & especially The Waitresses which has led me to adding their whole back catalog on my Discogs wishlist! Reading about the different scenes in the Midwest & New York & learning more about that & @jeffrosenstock early days with ASOB was fun, reading about the MexSka scene is always inspiring and I love that, that is how the book wraps up.
THINGS I HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT: I know the interview with that dude from choking victim probably happened before he was called out for being an abusive piece of shit, but it made me feel gross to read about him and the early days of that band and leftover crack. Like, I wish we as a community could/would just cut that guy and his bands out and try to forget it. I know “no gods, no managers” inspired a lot of people to make music but that’s all the more reason we should hold the dude accountable.
Some of the stories about flat planet and skankin pickle made me cringe too. But I get why they are there, it ties the whole thing together nicely in the end. Also the respect given to @mikeparkmusic and Lynette towards the end is really sweet and made my heart smile.
THINGS I HATED: the ska puns (it’s not an obscene amount but I just don’t like any ska puns. If your band has ska in the name I will 9/10 times decide immediately that your band sucks not gonna lie.) AND the let’s go bowling story about their van getting shot at. That story could have been half a page and instead it stretched out to like 4 whole pages and is the only time in the book where I am like “ugggghhhh when is this over?”
@aaron_carnes wrote a really fun book though. If you like ska music, you will love it, & if you hate ska music, you’ll love it. this book will give you an appreciation & understanding at least for a good grip of the genre.
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