[Samu]

I like the new tune, it’s a solid ska song and a good omen for the rest of the album.
That been said, I hope the album has some different things to offer than just “solid ska songs”, if you know what I mean. RBF has always had a rockish touch and I liked it a lot when they were mixing different styles.

[Samu]

Does anybody remember that scooby doo episode where a ska band fakes their death to retreat in hiding and secretly record the ultimate ska album, but re-emerges on the scenes only to find that nobody likes ska anymore?
I saw it recently and reminded me of RBF a lot.

[Samu]

And I think I remember all songs on Cheer up! (or even WTDRSH?) being credited collectively to “Reel Big Fish”.

[Samu]

He’s a great creative force who is so significantly better when he collaborates

So, so, so true!!!

[Samu]

I wish they would play FOE songs live. And I wish they would get back to playing in Italy – last time I saw them, Dan was still in the band. Even if the band is probably very different from what it used to be (it’s been 12 years since my first RBF show, it IS a long time), I would still go and see them.
I think they could benefit from taking a pause from touring, maybe six months to just sit down, relax, look around and perhaps come up with new material.
I’ve always been curious about the extent of collaborative work involved in RBF songwriting. It’s no secret that Aaron is the driving force (and I expect this to be even truer now that he’s the only founding member left), but how much does the rest of band contribute in the early stage of writing and arranging songs? I expect Dan and Scott to have contributed considerably in the past.

[Samu]

I got married last week.

[Samu]

We’re not happy grew a lot on me too. I think everyone was just expecting “something different” when it came out. The same happened to me with Chimps: if you skip “Please don’t tell her” (worst song RBF ever recorded) and perhaps Way back (not a bad song, but boring chorus) it’s actually a really nice album.

Ska-talites is playing in my town in two weeks. I don’t know if any of the original members is still in the band but I guess they’re still worth seeing.
Tonight the Sun Ra Arkestra is playing in a seaside town 45 minutes from here, so I may also go there.

[Samu]

Speaking about bands from 20 years ago, not releasing an album in the last 10… I saw System of a down last Sunday. Pretty good show. No encore though.
The local ska scene here saw a revival 2-3 years ago, but now it’s dead again. Seeing Matrioska next month.

[Samu]

To me, songwriting is more important than (technical) production. Artists need someone external to guide them and most importantly tell them when to stop.
Sounds were pretty good on Candy, but songwriting on some songs was a bit sloppy. Still a step forward wrt to Please don’t tell her I have a girlfriend. That one song has has the power to ruin the whole Monkeys album for me. I agree Candy sounds a lot like FOE, with all that “fuck this, fuck that” attitude.
So yes, RBF need a producer, but one with enough taste to help Aaron develop good ideas and enough authority to force him to drop bad ones.

[Samu]

Yes, just a poor joke on how RBF have just one surviving original member as well.

[Samu]

She could make a split record with RBF – that would increase the number of original members in either of the two bands by 1.

[Samu]

Well they’re coming from exactly the same place as Trump: white lower-middle class people’s belly. These are the guys who were accustomed to being a majority and being represented by a specific party. The novelty in Trump-like guys is that they are able to drain votes from two formerly opposing fields.
Middle-class conservatives always voted conservative and are increasingly shifting to the right out of fear of new minorities (arabs, latinos) gaining (perceived) economic and political power.
On the other hand, the working class traditionally voted left within a capitalist-worker dialectic. As long as the capitalist was the workers’ opponent the scheme held. Now the traditional relationship is no longer holding as the workers see a bigger menace in lower wage countries “stealing factories” or immigrant workers “stealing jobs”. This is the masterpiece of the capitalist class: driving the workers’ attention away from the real opponent to focus on a rearguard fight against someone poorer.
This plan was carefully carried out in the past 20-30 years by progressively demolishing public school, with the complicity of left wing leaders being apparently more interested in arguing with each other than in people’s troubles.
The problem is that now the plan seems to have backfired: the usual dominant classes are being overtaken (on the right wing) by guys who are more able than them in controlling the masses. Nothing too new: the awkward US republican nomination campaign was not much different from Germany’s 1933 elections, when conservatives thought they could handle Hitler’s “antics” and control him once he brought them to power.
I see no easy way of reversing this trend.

[Samu]

Happy new year everyone. Any skanking lately?

[Samu]

…. waiting for Sophie and Reel Big Cohen, where ARE those guys??

[Samu]

Same here, I thought this place was gone for good. I realise I sort of missed it, so I’m glad you guys are back.

[Author]

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