Orange County Ska refers to the Ska Punk music scene from Orange County, California, United States.

The Orange County third wave ska scene during the 1990s was large and influential. Many of the bands that emerged from that scene continue to have success, with some moving into other music genres.

Anaheim's No Doubt has had the most enduring commercial success of the Orange County ska bands.[1] They had several #1 singles and a diamond-certified album, Tragic Kingdom. In the mid-1980s, No Doubt used to open for Los Angeles bands such as The Untouchables and Fishbone.[2]

Another third wave ska band originating in Orange County that had commercial success is Reel Big Fish, whose song "Sell Out" reached #10 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts in 1997. The Hippos and Save Ferris have experienced some commercial success with the albums "Heads Are Gonna Roll" and "It Means Everything", respectively.[3] Both acts were featured on several major film soundtracks during the 1990s. The Aquabats remain one of the few original Orange County third wave ska bands who still play today.[4] However, the band generally doesn't play ska-influenced music in their most recent release, Charge!!. The same applies to Goldfinger, who, despite once being an active forerunner in the scene, dropped the ska sound in 2001.

After emerging out of Orange County's suburban ska scene in the 1990s, the band Pharmaceutical Bandits later became known as Rx Bandits and altered their sound to embrace pop punk, emo and prog rock influences.[5] The band's members met at Los Alamitos High School in Orange County, where members of Save Ferris, Reel Big Fish and Bad Religion were also students.[5] Reno ska jazz band Keyser Soze has Southern California roots, including members from Orange County and Los Angeles (which borders Orange County).[6]

Notable bands

References

  1. ^ "Orange County's own No Doubt." The return of No Doubt by Dustin Schoof Tuesday November 25, 2008 Lehigh Valley Live http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/music/index.ssf/2008/11/the_return_of_no_doubt.html
  2. ^ Reunited Ska-Punk Band Plays Shoreline July 19, 2009 KTVU
  3. ^ "Orange County produced Richard Nixon, but also that weird moment in the early 1990s when surf and punk met ska and produced (among others) No Doubt, Save Ferris, Reel Big Fish and – coming this Friday – The Aquabats." December 11, 2008 by Ron Garmon LA Citybeat http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/december_11_2008/7846/
  4. ^ "The outside world may think it has Orange County ska-rock pegged as a particularly lightweight musical form, but the outside world hasn't seen anything yet. Here come the Aquabats." Los Angeles Times Mike Boehm October 28, 1997 Part F page 1
  5. ^ a b Michael Senft Get to know: The Rx Bandits June 30, 2009 Arizona Republic
  6. ^ Tony Sauro Stockton native brings Keyser Soze home Stockton Record July 23, 2009 Stockton Record
  7. ^ "'Chase the Supertones' already is the name of the game in the ska-rock genre in general. With its third album, the Mission Viejo band confirms and builds upon its excellent 1997 release, 'The Supertones Strike Back.'...That album's meld of catchy melody, shining playing, and the warm, bracing urgency and heart that singer Matt Morginsky brought to his songs of mature spiritual struggle marked the Supertones as the only Orange County ska band that matters. Mike Boehm February 23, 1999 PART- F LA Times" [1]
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