Those who know me know that I have always been a fan of ska. I just love those crazy rude boys and girls. That being said I have decided to discuss three great newish albums sure to make your next BBQ a skanking good time (skanking is the type of dance that you do to ska music, it isnt a lose woman). THE SLACKERS- I have followed these gentlemen since the 3rd wave of ska (the mid 90's when every band had a horn section). They are one of the last great ska bands out there. Their latest album "Peculiar" is one of their strongest by far featuring great dancable songs and thought provoking lyrics. They are always on the road check their site (theslackers.com) for tour dates in a city near you. If you cant wait however pick up "Live at Ernesto's" the bands fantastic live CD.TIM ARMSTRONG - Timmy is always up to something. This guy has always been on the frontline of ska, ska/punk and punk. His first band Operation Ivy is sighted as being one of the most influential bands in CA punk , is spite of the fact that they only had one album. His second band RANCID is still one of the greatest punk bands and led to him being given his own label Hell-cat. Their roster includes Dropkick Murphys, The Slackers, The Aggrolites(I'll get to them later) and to many other punk bands to name. He has also done stuff with Travis Barker (from Blink 182) called the Transplants. Enough of his Resume', he has a new album called "A Poets Life" which is AWESOME. It is bouncy, fun and has one of the greastest summertime singles called "Into Action". He picked up an incredible band to back him up on the album (The Aggrolites). It is the perfect beach album, go buy it now.THE AGGROLITES - These guys are amazing. I hadnt really heard of them until they backed Tim up on his album but it piqued my interest and I looked to see what else they had done. I found out about their 3 albums, one just came out last week "Reggae Hit L.A.". They have an interesting sound, kind of like if Wilson Pickett sang with the Specials. For those of you that arent familiar with those references check out their website (Aggroreggae.com) and watch their videos.As always you can listen to samples from these groups to the right of the MOG and click on the little speaker looking thing