Skoolin' with the Skalars

The third-wave ska revival crested in the mid-1990s and then collapsed just as quickly, which means that there were quite a few bands in the genre that got record deals very quickly, made a single album, and then disappeared. Isaac Green & The Skalars emerged from that boom, and went on to release a second album under the name the Skalars. Their debut album shows them to be still a bit rough around the edges, but bursting with potential. Saxophonist and singer Jessica Butler leads them ably, and despite the band’s tendency towards headlong tempos they’re really quite tight. The lyrics can tend towards the jejune (“Spoiled Brat,” “Puppet Lover”) but all of the songs are still tons of fun, and the horns in particular sound great throughout.