Ska punk that makes you want to skateboard

Kill Lincoln‰’s “Good Riddance to Good Advice‰” isn‰’t your run-of the mill ska album. While at times the band goes along with the stereotypical ska-pop-punk tropes of horns playing in perfect thirds and fifths, twangy guitar openings, and the occasional breakdown, the album is quite layered and is a pleasant listen. Like I said before, there are some stereotypical pop-punk chord progressions and group vocal things going on, combined with the generally posi-attitude of the songs, but that doesn‰’t stop Kill Lincoln from putting out songs with a lot of heart and emotions behind them. The opening song, “Ronald… Help Me‰” sounds like it a cross-section of 90‰’s ska. They then move in to their title track, “Good Riddance to Good Advice‰Û, and build upon that ska base by adding in a bunch of the afformentioned pop punk tropes. This continues in the third track, “Days I Spent inside‰Û. But then, Kill Lincoln completely shakes it up with “Fire Starter‰Û, a hardcore punk track with minor-chord horn parts that give the song an eerie feel while you‰’re trying to figure out what the hell is going on. It‰’s a completely unexpected departure from the 90‰’s-early 2000‰’s ska-punk Kill Lincoln is known for. They then get right back to the horn-filled skate punk in “$8 Beer Night‰” and “I‰’m Getting too Old for This‰Û. Overall, it‰’s a pretty sold ska record, and manages to not sound like it should have been left back in 2005 with the rest of the genre.

RIYL: Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto, Less than Jake, Yellowcard

Recommended Tracks: 2, 4, 6