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Tag: Skacore

  • Harmonic Convergence by Mega Infinity

    Harmonic Convergence by Mega Infinity

    Album: Harmonic Convergence

    Artist: Mega Infinity

    Released: March 3, 2025; Say-10/Direct Support Music Group

    If ska infused progressive rock is your kind of jam, then you probably know all about Long Island 4 piece Mega Infinity. They have been a staple of the current DIY Ska scene for many years. Their signature style features sick guitar riffs, meaningful and engaging lyrics and a community centered outlook that always brings a good time. Their newest full length album “Harmonic Convergence” released last Tuesday.

    My favorite song on the album is “When You Get Home”. It is a highly relatable and an extremely sweet love song. Maybe I am just a sucker for that kind of thing but it honestly makes my heart melt a little when I listen to it. There is also some stellar saxophone in the song which I of course absolutely adore. The vocal performance is very sincere and honest. The thing that gets me right in the heart is the story of the song. It starts with a couple who is dating. The boyfriend has to leave and the girlfriend wants him to call when he gets home. The song then goes on to explain how she loves him and how safe he makes her feel and how she wants him to be safe as well. Again, it is very sweet and sincere. The next verse the couple is married and reminiscing about back when they dated and then they wonder about their future together. In the last verse, the couple has a kid and you are treated to more snapshots of their lives as the kid grows up and becomes an adult. Then, the song goes back to the, now mom, asking her child to call her when they get home. It is then that you realized that what you have just witnessed is love make a complete cycle from romantic love for a partner, to parental love for a child. Honestly, it’s beautiful, god tier storytelling. Also, shout out to my wife who this song very easily could have been written about. She is exactly the way POV character of the song is portrayed and still to this day asks all our adult children to tell her when they get home. Perhaps that’s why I fine it so relatable.

    “The World” is another really well written song about finding love and acceptance among friends and community. It is a really upbeat pop-punk song. It also has a really awesome guitar solo during the back half of the song. I think it is the perfect track 1 for the album as it really sets the tone for what follows.

    Gerilyn Hayes-McCloskey of Böndbreakr provides additional vocals on the song “In Bocca Al Lupo”. Her vocals are fantastic and add a level of visceral empowerment that takes the song to another level. The prog rock guitar that intros the song is also great at stoking the energy needed to address the subject of the song. It recounts the story of Medusa and uses it as a metaphor for overcoming trauma and then from there setting out to protect others. It’s a song about survival and empowerment; an utterly marvelous message.

    Lastly, I just wanted to briefly mention the song “The Crowd Goes Mild”. It is a scything rebuttal of how big tech has a straggle hold on the music industry and generative AI. It talks about how this hurts the music scene. Most importantly, the comment on how to combat this by finding solidarity with other artists and by making real music with real people.

    This “Harmonic Convergence” marks their second full length release since “Rainbow Heartache” released in 2021. The almost 5 years was worth the wait. Everything presented in this album is an improvement on their first album and even their 2023 solo EP and takes the style they are known for and kicks it up to 20.

  • Or Hans Gruber and the Die Hards by Hans Gruber and the Die Hards

    Or Hans Gruber and the Die Hards by Hans Gruber and the Die Hards

    Album: Or Hans Gruber and the Die Hards

    Artist: Hans Gruber and the Die Hards

    Released: February 17, 2026; Self Release

    Hans Gruber and the Die Hards have been a high energy, often zany staple of the Ska-core genre for close to a decade. Or Hans Gruber and the Die Hards is no exception to this already established norm. This entire album is a fun energy driven chaotic parade. If upon hearing the first song you think to yourself, ‘Oh I know where this is going’, I promise that you do not. The only way I can describe this album is by asking you to picture the Kool-aid man busting into a room except he is wearing a pair of boxer briefs as music blasts at you. He then runs by you bursting through the adjacent wall into the next room, revealing a new room and music completely and different from the from the last. That is honestly how it feels as you progress track by track through the album. The only thing that seems to remain constant throughout the album is that each song is utterly amazing and the group’s disdain for how things are and their desire for them to be better for everyone not just the rich—Well maybe not better for the rich.

    I think the song that best showcases their desire to make things better is, “One Day”. It imagines a future where everyone has housing and the other things they need to live. In a very loose sense, it is a Ska-core “Imagine” except where John Lennon very much comes off as a pie in the sky, wouldn’t this be nice dreamer. Hans Gruber and the Die Hards deliver a song that is less pie in the sky and more resolute. It’s not just a call to action; it’s a threat. The verses in Spanish speak of revolution further cementing the song as one that means business. One day, indeed hopefully sometime in our lifetime. This is my favorite song on the album.

    “Pay Your Tolls” is another great song that showcases yet another thing to be mad at about society as it is. Toll roads suck. Having to pay a fee for a thing that should be a public service is utter bull shit especially when you live in a country that doesn’t offer any other viable modes of transit, outside of its largest cities. Hans Gruber really hates paying tolls and you should too. Another thing that I really like about this particular song is that it is a team up with Doom Scroll one of my top folk punk bands. It might seem like an odd match up to some people but to me, I think it’s perfect.

    Then, there is “Throwdown” which is just a absolutely perfect pop-punk bop with horns. I love the vocals so much in this song, especially the chorus. The drums? Great! The guitar? Great! The horns? AMAZING! The little operatic bit?? You know unexpectedly that too even works! Purely an infectious bop.

    The last song I want to highlight is “Chambacú” Its a Latin ballad with a coral accompaniment and horns, but also there is screaming?? Its unique, its awesome and I love it. I low key want to go to the place they are singing about because the love and reverence they express for it in this song makes it seem hella lit.

    To wrap things up here, other notable songs include one about trash. One about how venues should give ear protection to concert goers for free: a thing I wholeheartedly agree with. And a song that compares politicians and the rich to everyone’s least favorite parasite, the bedbug. One more thing I wholeheartedly agree with. This album is a wild ride that is as fun as it is chaotic. With “Or Hans Gruber and the Die Hards”, Hans Gruber and the Die Hards have served fans up something they couldn’t have possibly imagined.