In April 2021, Clash books will release Aaron Carnes' In Defense of Ska. The book is an astounding piece of music history. The book explores the history of ska, ruminates on modern ska, and takes, deep, deep, deep dives into obscure ska factoids. Via hundreds and hundreds of interviews with musicians, Carnes weaves the stories involving the big name hitters (Less than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Fishbone) with the medium size ska-champs (Skankin' Pickle, MU330, Bomb the music Inudustry!), with the forgotten bands that only Carnes knows. Carnes himself played in the post two-tone/pre-3rd wave band Flat Planet, Roadied for Skankin' Pickle, and also worked at Asian Man Records.
Today, we're excited to debut a chapter from the book. The chapter looks at how the local ska scene received Propagandhi's controversal tune "Ska Sucks" and how Propagandhi responded to criticism of the tune. Punknews' John Gentile also interviewed Carnes about the book.
You can pre-order In Defense of Ska right here!. Meanwhile, you can read the excerpt below, right now!