#mod ska

[punkrockmixtapes]

Sonny Burke - Rudy Girl

[iknowsomestuffaboutguitars]

emo/mod/ska ...wait what? I don't know a whole lot about this band except that they were from Minneapolis and that they wrote this song that just rules. It's pretty unique in the way that it embodies those three distinct styles mentioned in the title of this post. Ultimately, this is just a great rock song. Between this band and the Rx Bandit's Progress, the amazingness of ska (well 3rd wave ska, I guess) just kind of shriveled. Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, Mustard Plug, and the Aquabats began to seem one dimensional. The guitar tone in "If You're Not Now (You Never Were) is stellar, especially for that period. Overdriven guitars in the verses?! No one did that at the time in ska; verses were always clean when playing those barre chords. And there's no excessive pedal distortion in the choruses either. But wait, there's more!--a great melodic guitar solo that isn't recycling the vocal melody and it has a cool lead in with the help of the organ. Brilliant! Maybe the Siren Six! didn't have a mega successful career chalk-full of mainstream radio hits, but they wrote and recorded this awesome track. Here's to the Siren Six! wherever they might be.