Your way in
Ska punk 1988
Ska offbeats and a horn section at punk tempo. The third wave of ska, thoroughly American.
- Heaviness
- 3
- Speed
- 7
- Melody
- 9
- Where from
- California / United Kingdom
- Tempo
- 160-200 bpm
- Song length
- 2.5-3.5 min
- Written about
- Unity and anti-racism, Working life, Youth, Fun, unembarrassed
- Vocals
- Sung
Why this one
| You said | Ska punk | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light How much weight do you want behind it? | 3 out of 10 | 90% | ×2 |
| Quick and driving What pace? | 7 out of 10 | 100% | ×2 |
| The nineties Does it matter when it was made? | 1988 | 92% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 94% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 3 answers you gave, weighted heaviness 2, pace 2, era 1 out of 5. Ska punk leads the next by 3 points. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1Start one step outside
Ramones, Ramones 1976
Ramones - Ramones. Fourteen songs in twenty-nine minutes, not a wasted note.
- 2The one to put on first
Operation Ivy, Energy 1989
Operation Ivy - Energy. Twenty-seven minutes, one band, wildly outsized influence.
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Punk rock, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Ska punk's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Garage rock revival 91%
A reaction to nu metal and radio pop: crisp guitars, plain production, narrow suits. It put guitar rock back on festival bills in the 2000s.
5 steps from Ska punk, meeting it only at Rock.
The way into Garage rock revival -
Math rock 90%
Odd meters and interlocking riffs assembled like a puzzle, usually without vocals. Post-rock's cerebral cousin.
4 steps from Ska punk, meeting it only at Rock.
The way into Math rock
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- Light put 12 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Death metal, Brutal death metal, Sludge metal. Worth 2 of 5.
- The nineties put 23 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Blues rock, Progressive rock, Rock and roll. Worth 1 of 5.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.