Tag: Ska

Artist: Merry Malady

Album: Healthy Life 

Released: January 25, 2025; Self Released

Merry Malady is a punk band with, dare I say, a hint of ska thrown in as a little snack, hailing from Long Island, New York. Their first release, Healthy Life, is a unique mix of horn infused punk rock. It was released back in January so, as usual, I am a little late to the party. If you’re like me, then sit back cause you are in for a treat.

This album starts out strong with “Low Hanging Devil Fruit” which features some of the best horns I have heard in a while. I specifically can’t get enough of the Baritone Saxophone and will gush about it all day if given a chance. The song starts with the words ‘Everybody in this room is going to die’ and is about the resolute decision to be a positive force in a nihilistic world. The lyrics are grim at times, but the horn arrangement and guitar work together to convey an assured power. This makes the song feel like a battle anthem. I get incredibly pumped listening to it. 

I am going to cut to the chase on “Shavasana”, it is my favorite song on the album. It explores the end of a relationship where you realize that you truly don’t know the other person and perhaps never really did. I also take the song is named after a yoga pose that is typically done at the end of a session as a way to decompress and relax. If you are unfamiliar with it, do yourself a favor and look it up. I think it does a great job evoking the feeling that I get from the song. The dual vocals at the end of the song is the cherry on top of this metaphorical cake filled with a palatable longing and loss. They are my favorite part of the song hands down.

So, as to remain on brand for myself, I am going to mention the two songs on the album that got that ska influence in them. The first is “Two Step Verification”, it is really good. However, the best of the two is “The Worst Ever Ska Punk Act On Long Island”. As a fan of self deprecating humor, I enjoyed the name of the song on that assumption. However, after really analyzing the song I can’t really say that humor was the end goal. The song deals with questioning your self worth and wondering if you deserve happiness and love. The lyrics are rather bleak but the up beat guitar and horns make it go down easier. I think the take away from this song, or at least for any compassionate person, is that everyone deserves happiness and love especially those that feel the most broken. So take a moment to let the people in your life know you love them, cause you can’t really take for granted that they know or feel that. 

Merry Malady is fantastic punk band that I think everyone needs to check out. Their first album “Healthy Life” deals with heavy subject matter but does so in a way that is digestible and thought provoking. If this is what they are spinning on their first offering, I can only imagine that it is nothing but up from here. I am looking forward to more from them in the future.       

Album: The Bruce Lee band 

Artist: The Bruce Lee band 

Released: 1996; Asian Man Records 

There has been a lack of new releases coming across my metaphorical desk this week; so, while we wait for a few new records to drop later this month, I thought I would share with y’all a record from my youth that I think is pretty good. Back in the early 00s, the internet was still relatively new and music discovery was still done the old fashion way by knowing a guy that knows a guy. In the case of this particular album, my love of it began by liking the band Less Than Jake because they played them on the radio in the college town I used to live in before moving to rural Ohio and then finding out that they stood in as the studio band that helped record this album. That was my whole motivation for mail ordering (that is the way you got music back in the day when you lived in the middle of nowhere) this cd. What I got was something that was truly amazing. 

I guess that we will start with my favorite song on the album. It is called “Don’t Sit Next To Me Just Because I’m Asian”. It is a very tongue in cheek song that tells a story of the time a student attempted to copy off of Mike Park’s graduation test and him, knowing what the person was up to, answered all the questions wrong and waited for him to leave, then changed the answers, causing the other student to fail that test. The song also talks about how it is upsetting to Mike that he feels that people only act like they care about him because they think he is smart solely because he is Asian and how he feels they don’t actually care about who he is as an individual. The song is great because of the aspects of outsmarting the ‘villain’ in the story but more importantly, it is a very earnest portrayal of how racial stereotypes can be harmful even when they are generally perceived as positive. As you can imagine, living in rural Ohio where the population is easily 90% white, no one was really talking about racism, especially not in a way that resonated with me the way this song always had. I could easily credit this song for starting setting me on the political path I walk today.  

“Proud” is another noteworthy song for me. It is pure 90’s ska punk distilled into what I consider a classic DIY anthem. The horns just go absolutely hard and the ska guitar is fast and infectious. The song is about being proud of the work and effort put into creating music and about not caring about fame or fortune. When I think of 3rd wave DIY ska, this is one of the songs that plays in my head. 

Another song that I think captures more of the tongue and cheek nature of the album is “Going Insane”. It’s a real bop that features extremely surreal lyrics. It’s just fun and endlessly re-listenable. 

Lastly, I want to talk about some of the quirky parts of the album that I absolutely love. Four songs on the album either make reference to classic TV shows, or are just the actual theme song of a show. It’s more accurate to say they were classics when the album was originally released by Gen Z standards; they would be considered ancient television. I just thought this was cool when I was a nerdy kid, and frankly still do. Next, 2 songs are sung in Korean. This was my first introduction to the Korean language and was just a really cool thing for me growing up. While it didn’t inspire me to learn the language, I think that exposure to different things like language and culture makes people more tolerant of others. Lastly, the song “Gerry Is Strong” is just an absolutely fun sing along song that is about Mike and his friend dealing with fender bender misadventure. Seriously, I would sing this to my wife back when we were in High School just to get a rise out of her.   

This album played a part in shaping the way I perceive the world and who I am. It means a lot to me. So much so that I have chosen to write about it almost 30 years after its release. I think you should check it out if you have never listened to it. If you have, I think now is a great time to give it another spin. This album is pure nostalgia for me and I hope you all enjoy it as well. 

If you like the album I reviewed here and want to support the artist as well as this blog please consider picking up the album via this affiliate link—> Purchase The Bruce Lee Band by The Bruce Lee Band digitally via Amazon Music