Mad Caddies, "Nobody Wins at the Laundromat"
When ska-punk just kind of turns into punk with horns, I start some losing interest. Sure, it can still be good, but there are a lot of great straight-up punk bands that they're going to be competing with. I'm not that desperate for horns.
Calexico, "Cumbia de Donde"
OK I LIED GIVE ME ALL THE HORNS I NEED THEM RIGHT NOW
Edge of the Sun is one of the more, uh, sunny albums from Calexico's later career. This bouncy tune is the most sunniest of the lot, but it's by no means alone being charming. If you're a big fan of Feast of Wire (which you should be), this is a pretty good one to go to next.
El-P, "EMG"
Goddamn, listen to that shit. Makes me want to go break some shit!
The Arrogant Sons of Bitches, "The Last Bell I Will Ever Hear"
See, if you're going to do ska-punk, you have to compete with Jeff Rosenstock's various projects for ears. That's a high bar!
Butter 08, "9MM"
Russel Simins of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion has had several interesting side projects. We've had a few songs from Crunt, and here's another one of them. This is a collaboration with Cibo Matto, and I'll listen to Simins play on anything. But this is great even beyond Simins, groovy and aggressive. Alas, as with Crunt, there's only one self-titled album.