An amazing band that I first grew to love in college, Bim Skala Bim, is one of the originators of the American ‘Third Wave’ of ska music. I can say ‘is’ because after a long hiatus, Bim Skala Bim is once again releasing new material (their tenth album!) and doing some touring.
Chet’s Last Call, named after the Boston punk dive bar where Bim started way back in ’83, has a number of standout tracks, from the insanely-tight but lighthearted “Summer of Ska” instrumental to the groovin’ travelogue of “Buses, Boats, Planes, Trains, Taxis” to the mad-hatter horns of “On The Dance Floor.” But I suspect listeners may find themselves looping back to the first song, “Everybody’s Got Their Style” and the bookending last track, a dub remix of the same song, that would do Mad Professor proud. It’s an almost child-like rhymed party anthem for sure, but it has a sublime quality that perfectly portrays how these guys are still a lot of fun. And hey, why not? Boston’s Red Sox came back to win this year too!