Besides Asides

Rightfully or wrongfully I've always viewed ska punk as thing of youth. Go to any random ska punk show today and you will likely see the fresh acne filled faces of 14 - 19 year olds, and not much else. It is fun music to sing along and dance to with generally positive vibes. When i was 16 or so I was first getting into punk, street punk and ska punk were my gateways. Over the years I've sort of grew out of listening to it and a lot of the local bands that played that style of music have either broke up or changed their sound. One of the bands that falls into the latter category is current Fat Wreck Chords band The Flatliners. Their shows were some of the first I went to and any knowledge I had of a Southern Ontario punk scene came from those early slam and skank sessions. While the Flats have been able to admirably progress their sound to a sophisticated mix of melodic punk with slight hints of ska, there is something that still draws me to the blistering ska punk of their debut full-length, Destroy To Create. That, Suicide Machines' Destruction By Definition and Operation Ivy's discography are the three ska punk albums that hold up best against the test of time.

Feeling nostalgic I went and collected all the band's odds and ends into a single collection, Rebuild. A good chunk of this is pre-Destroy To Create and maintains the band's nervous ska punk fury. Anyways, enjoy: