Your way in
Ska punk 1988
Ska offbeats and a horn section at punk tempo. The third wave of ska, thoroughly American.
- Heaviness
- 3
- Speed
- 7
- Melody
- 9
- Where from
- California / United Kingdom
- Tempo
- 160-200 bpm
- Song length
- 2.5-3.5 min
- Written about
- Unity and anti-racism, Working life, Youth, Fun, unembarrassed
- Vocals
- Sung
Why this one
| You said | Ska punk | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singing When someone is singing, what should come out? | clean | 100% | ×3 |
| Light How much weight do you want behind it? | 3 out of 10 | 90% | ×2 |
| Quick and driving What pace? | 7 out of 10 | 100% | ×2 |
| The nineties Does it matter when it was made? | 1988 | 92% | ×1 |
| Long. Let it go somewhere. How long should a song be? | up to 3.5 min | 13% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 87% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 5 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, pace 2, era 1, length 1 out of 9. Ska punk leads the next by 1 point. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1Start one step outside
Ramones, Ramones 1976
Ramones - Ramones. Fourteen songs in twenty-nine minutes, not a wasted note.
- 2The one to put on first
Operation Ivy, Energy 1989
Operation Ivy - Energy. Twenty-seven minutes, one band, wildly outsized influence.
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Punk rock, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Ska punk's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Avant-prog / RIO 86%
Rock in Opposition: dissonance, chamber music and left-wing politics. Prog that refuses on principle to be pleasant.
4 steps from Ska punk, meeting it only at Rock.
The way into Avant-prog / RIO -
Midwest emo 86%
Open tunings and interlocking arpeggios, odd meters and lyrics about autumn and empty rooms.
5 steps from Ska punk, meeting it only at Punk rock.
The way into Midwest emo
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- Singing put 54 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Black metal, Death metal, Post-hardcore. Worth 3 of 9.
- Light put 12 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Death metal, Brutal death metal, Sludge metal. Worth 2 of 9.
- The nineties put 23 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Blues rock, Progressive rock, Rock and roll. Worth 1 of 9.
- Long. Let it go somewhere. put 40 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Rock and roll. Worth 1 of 9.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.