© 2011
Rating: 
Mickey is a 10 track punk infused ska release by long island band Eli Whitney & The Sound Machine. The band positions itself as a skapunk outfit, and I suppose I can see that. However I think they lean, on this release at least, more towards the ska end of the spectrum. I am totally cool with that.
Mickey came out at the tail end of 2011 and from what I can tell is the third release from the band. The tracks on the album typify what I’ve come to think of as the 4th wave sound. Ska, if you know anything of its history, tends to take the traditional calypso rhythms and styles and blend them with both popular and less popular music of the current era, e.g. punk and metal of the respective 2nd and 3rd waves.
The current incarnation is to some extent bridging the divide over from the 3rd wave with a ska punk sound that has become more rooted in a less aggressive punk style and to a certain degree almost a blend of vaguely folkish rock. Eli Whitney & The Sound Machine do an admirable job with this style and easily recall their influences and contemporaries like Streetlight Manifesto and Big D. and the Kids Table.
On the whole, Mickey is a great release. You can download it from the bandcamp site for whatever price you feel it’s worth. If you can afford to, I’d suggest dropping some coin for this release and in return for your download you’re donating to the honorable cause of supporting independent music.
–Jerry Actually
There’s a common theme in music and especially punk music where band’s that have been around for awhile will have fans who will say “their music was better when…..” and they yearn for the “the good old days.”. Enter Blossom Hill, a pop punk band from Finland who released their debut LP, Sidetracks, in October.
Junior Battles-Idle Ages-It took me a long time to catch onto this album, but when I did it was as close to a revelation as I came this year.
Cubicle is an L.A. based punk band, rocking out with near total corporate schtick; Songs of coffee, languishing in noward* mobility, and Ponzi Scheme greed abound. The sound is somewhat comical ala Guttermouth and certainly classic punk reminiscent of Circle Jerks. The later influence goes even so far as to include a very convincing cover of “Beverly Hills”
The album I have been listening to lately is one that I have been wanting to listen to for a long time, but so much music that I am interested, or have become interested has come out since its release date that it has been put on the back burner. But lately, I have been back on the hunt for new music and not finding anything of particular interest. Well about two weeks ago Rebel Time Records sent out a tweet seemingly from above about a sale that they were having. Their entire discography was put on sale for 5 dollars a cd (you can still take advantage of this deal until the new year), a price I couldn’t say no to. So I finally decided to do what I had set out to do in September 2010, and purchase a copy of Broadcast Zero’s Some Concerns Regarding This Revolt. Considering the album is over a year old and the band is no longer together, I’m not really sure if what I am about to write is a review or a revisit.