By Dillan Ducar ’13
THE ROUNDUP

The beat heavy sounds of contemporary music are known for being the fuel that drives Brophy’s dances.

While no one can call the dances bad, not everyone likes the hip-hop and techno of popular culture, or at least all the time.

Some people like rock, some like reggae, and some like ska.

The Aquabats is a band based out of Orange County, Calif., that has a longstanding reputation among ska listeners.

Formed in 1994 they have toured internationally and released four full-length studio albums. Not all of these albums are ska, but the ones that aren’t are more of a ska/rock mix.

Early Years

As with most ska bands it is almost imperative to have some kind of a brass section and with the early music of The Aquabats this is apparent.

Most songs of their early years have a special tone to them that can only be described as “rad,” or “super rad” (a song by The Aquabats).

When describing childhood events such as a hot summer night or other times telling a story of navigating an ocean of wild beasts, their music is extremely diverse.

Rejuvenation

Their recent activity is dubbed the rejuvenation because while most ska bands fall apart after the loss of their brass section The Aquabats did not.

With the complete loss of their horn section, The Aquabats made the transition to synthesizers and it wasn’t a complete disaster.

However their music is not all The Aquabats are known for.

During live shows, The Aquabats will take on fake personas of super heroes, then go on to battle evil with the might of ska music. They follow their leader and lead singer MC BatCommander.

Overall

While singing about fighting evil villains in the sky or about the excitement of pizza day at school, The Aquabats receive an A+.