To say a band is “ahead of their time” is an almost cliché statement. It takes a lot of hindsight to really make a compelling argument, and most of the time you can go even further back and find someone doing what they were doing, but here it goes.
Third wave ska had its roots in the “Two Tone” style popular in Brittian in the 1980’s, but didn’t get much main stream success until the 90’s. The two bands I think really laid down the groundwork for the ska and its subgenres in America, today were the Toaster (I’ll get to them someday) and the Uptones. Both bands formed in 1981 and were completely devoted to playing ska unlike a lot of ska related acts of the time (one example that sticks out in my mind is the Police.)
At the time ska was very subversive and punk. It was very underground, intense, and had a very faithful following in its inner circles. These two acts delivered extremely passionate on stage performances that are still a staple of American Ska today. They directly influenced many of the California bands that brought ska into notoriety, most notably for me Operation Ivy and Sublime.
To sum all this up: These guys are kind of a big deal! If you’ve liked any American Ska band you probably have these guys to thank yet they are both only modestly successful commercially. Both bands are still together and perform putting on some fantastic shows and just generally having a good time.
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