Michael Braun's Blog

Some of us may recall the few hits the Mighty Mighty Bosstones had in the late 90s including the song “The Impression That I Get.” Mainly Ska, the band seemed a great addition to the Ska movement of that era, with No Doubt, Reel Big Fish, and Sublime adding hits to the radio and bringing a bit of reggae into the mainstream.

What many of us did not realize at the time is that these bands had all been around along time before they found radio success. Before No Doubt released Tragic Kingdom, they put out two other albums of nearly straight Ska. The Bosstones also released several albums before they found popular success. Indeed, they had been around since 1985.

Lately, I have been enjoying their album Question the Answers from 1994. I happened upon this album while purusing the CD collection at College Library. Their collection was not only impressive, it was also eclectic. Within the 150 or so CDs they had one could find many recent releases from a wide range of genres. Yes, the collection is small, but it’s also really awesome.

This album has one quality above all others: it’s RAW. One imagines Ska music being very polished. It’s high tempo nature and manic horns mean the band must be very synced to produce anything work listening to. The Bosstones seem determined to defy this. The horns, mainly trumpet, sax, and trombone, are played with an intensity that produces a live feel. The album seems to have been produced in one take recording on only a few tracks. The guitars are loud and screaming, fitting with Ska’s infusion with punk.

The vocals are what truly sets the record apart. When used to the smooth vocals of Gwen Stafani from No Doubt, the lead singers of the Bosstones, Tim Bridewell and Dicky Barrett are very capable of singing fitting to the slow moments accompanied by horns, but bring to the table the ability to scream on par with any hardrocker. This caps off the albums hardcore and raw feel with incredible intensity.

Overall, the album is not what I normally listen to, but I must say I find myself drawn to it. The punk is well balanced with hardrock and Ska, making it highly tolerable where I might have found it annoying from some groups recording around the same time including Green Day and Blink-182. I recommend you check out the album if you get a chance.