The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – More Noise & Other Disturbances

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – More Noise & Other Disturbances

TAANG! Records, 1992

Acquired: Half Price Books, Used, 2003

Price: $4

Man, it was a good day for finding records I forgot I bought in high school in my parents’ basement! First the Residents, and now this! I didn’t start seriously collecting records until my second year of college, but in high school I would frequent the Half Price Books in Olathe on a weekly basis hunting for punk rock records (that’s where I got my copy of Black Flag’s Loose Nut). I didn’t even like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and I was out of my ska-punk days, but I bought this one anyway because I thought the band’s second album might have more of a punk slant. It doesn’t, but it’s quite a bit more raw than their 1997 monster break-out Let’s Face It. What came first, the ska revival or the swing revival? Or did they happen simultaneously? It feels like those two genres were feeding one another. Both have a fun, throwback vibe and are straight-up good time music. Let’s Face It was ubiquitous. You’ll find CD copies of it in clearance sections and cut-out bins across this great land, and it’s hard to remember there was a brief moment in our history where this is what the people wanted. It was a brief moment, but it came right at the time where I was discovering music on my own and I very much-loved “The Impression That I Get” (still do, it’s a great, catchy as hell song). I was 12, and I gotta think the nascent punk rock elements in the band at that time helped shepard me down that path. The first concert I ever attended was a ska-punk show at El Torreon in KC, right around the time I bought this record. I learned to skank, and had a generally magnificent time even though I went on my own. So maybe that’s why I have a soft spot for ska-punk. Even though it didn’t get under my skin like pop-punk and hardcore, it lent a hand.

I should probably write something about the actual album opposed to the feelings it brings up. More Noise & Other Disturbances is a whole hell of a lot more unpolished than their mainstream fare and a whole hell of a lot more rockin. It’s really, really fun and was recorded in an era before horn sections in rock bands became a running joke.

"Where'd You Go"