Bim Skala Bim
Metroland (Albany, NY), 4/15/99
Members of ska-tinged Goldfinger, Reel
Big Fish and No Doubt were about 10 years old in 1983, the year Bim Skala Bim
made their entrance onto Boston's flaccid ska scene and helped to conceive yet
another brand of the Jamaican rhythm-influenced music--this one called Third
Wave ska. Since then, the Boston-based band have released seven albums, most
of these on their own indie label, Bib Records. Bim Skala Bim's sound rose out
of an amalgam of influences, among them punk, pop, R&B and salsa, and the
band have built a respectable fan base through constant gigging around the country.
Their newest CD, The One That Got Away, is just that--a compilation of
B-sides, outtakes and rare tracks from 1983 to the present which never made
it onto a disc.
This weekend, Bim Skala Bim--who've won eight Boston Music Awards and seven
nods from the Boston Phoenix's annual Reader's Poll--will show us why their
hometown digs their sound when they play at the University of Albany Friday
night. The show, a benefit for the Jimmy V Foundation, an organization committed
to finding a cure for cancer, will also feature local outfit Me & Jeremy,
Method of Groove, the Orange and Pent.
Upstate Skank
City Newspaper (Rochester, NY), 3/24/99
Ska music's development spans 40 years,
with Jamaican origins similar to r&b, reggae, and early rock. For the last
16 years, Boston's Bim Skala Bim has remained at the forefront of the brewing
American ska underground, mixing rock with calypso, ska, and reggae for a trademark
sound.
Humble beginnings in public-access television eventually led frontman Dan Vitale
and bassist Mark Ferranti to form the band and two prolific record labels, BiB
Records and DVS Media, which have already amassed 36 releases. Bim's nine-album
catalogue illustrates the group's powerful keyboard-saxophone combination, liquid
trombone, flexible vocals and percussion. Constant touring of both North America
and Europe have perfected BSB's soulful live performances.
Many members have come and gone through the years, but BSB's upbeat formula
has stayed put, which is more than most ska groups can boast. But then again,
these aren't your average ska players. An added bonus: BSB's original trombone
player, John Ferry, has temporarily rejoined the group, making its 9:30pm performance
on Thursday, March 25, at Milestones one not to be missed.
-John Vaccaro
Artists'
Picks
Rolling Stone, 1/22/98
Dicky Barrett
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
01/98
Countdown
Details, January 1998
Ten thousand hungover mod-misfits wake up in puddles of Pabst, groping around for their two-tone
shoes, after the Mighty Mighty Bosstones / Bim Skala Bim marathon New Year's Eve concert at
the Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Bim
Skala Bim, Universal Everything is tight, but Bim make it seem effortless as the two step. And
that's just the first song. Keep going, and things just get better. The punchy,
lightweight "Shakin' All Over" pays tribute to the '50s and is syncopated
as all git out. "Rings Of Saturn" is slide-horn smooth, yet there's still
nothing overly slick about it. "Talk, Talk & Talk" is simply a classic song,
featuring Bim's delicious vocal harmonies played like rhythm instruments.
Last up is "Happy Weekend," a swaying, partying sendoff. Adios, muchachos.
-David Weiss
Alternative Press Magazine, September 1997
(essential)
After 12 years together, these Bostonians
have come close to a perfect alchemy of ska, soul and surf, congealing it with
patience, punk grit and summer breezes. Drop in Universal, press "play,"
and what comes out is clear as a bell. In the blink of an eye, singer Dan Vitale's
voice shifts down to a throaty growl. Organs and horns join together in the
sweetest ska manner for a fruity sonic sorbet that's light but full of flava.
And don't forget to keep up with the heartbeat-like stops and the guitar that's
as rhythmic as the bass and drums.
Sound
Check - Bim Skala Bim, Universal But forget all that crap. They're popular because they have good songs; exciting grooves, hooks,
catchy toon titles and significant melodies. Very well put together.
Got a couple short ones like the fun loving Skaloop and their own
version of Shakin' All Over but the strength of this band is in songs
like Johnny O'Reilly with its infectious organ riff, the moody Same
Mistake featuring a sax/organ interlude, and instrumentals [That's no
vocals folks] such as Electrolux and Happy Weekend. I've had
a few happy weekends myself lately but that's another story.
The Local Underground, June/July 1997
1/4
Well I can see why this band's so popular. Got that brassy trombone, ska guitah, tight rhythm section,
funky Hammond-ish organ [Geez, could it be a real Hammond?] and on target vocals.
-L.A. Joe
The
Bosstones win the turf war at Great Woods
The Boston Globe, 5/23/97
(Excerpt) "...And Bim Skala Bim - the
only Boston ska band with seniority over the decade-plus Bosstones - kept body-surfers
happy with rock-ready ska. New trombonist Mark Paquin lent both stage presence
and punch..."
-Paul Robicheau
Long
Time Coming "I always wanted to play Great Woods." Vitale says, and with pop radio warming to ska after hits
by No Doubt, Sublime and Rancid, it's bound to be a big summer for Bim and the Bosstones, who both
have new discs.
"It's definitely the best climate to be the Bosstones, but we really don't pay attention to that,"
Barret says of main stream interest in rock bands playing ska, the faster father of reggae, born in Jamaica
during the '50s. "We've been doing this for a while. If [ska] is the music du jour, when the trend
is over, we'll come riding out, and we'll still be the Bosstones."
"If there's a lot of attention being given to what it is we do," he says of today's popular ska-rockers,
"maybe people will look around and see the bands who really deserve it - even more so than ourselves -
who are very much ska bands. Like Bim Skala Bim, the Pietasters and Hepcats."
"It's pretty interesting," says Vitale, whose band just put out its seventh album, Universal,
on its own BiB label. "Fortunately, I really like the songs that have surfaced [on radio] - Sublime,
the Bosstones, and even a couple of the No Doubt songs and Rancid singles are really good ska songs."
"Thank God for No Doubt," says Barrett, whose band continues to give ska more of a punk bite on fifth
album Let's Face It than those Gwen Stefani-led pop idols. "No Doubt makes all the No Doubt
music so we don't have to."
Not that Bim or the Bosstones (whose Mercury-distributed Big Rig label released the recent
Safe and Sound benefit disc) claim to play pure ska. Vitale was inspired by the Clash and
second wave British ska bands like the English Beat and Specials in starting Bim with basist
Mark Ferranti in 1982 - three years before the Bosstones. "We wanted to be a band that played Clash-type
ska, but only ska," he says. "But as the years went by, we've mixed ska with pretty much every kind
of music, and that's what keeps it interesting."
The Bosstones' raw, simpler style can be traced to Barrett and bassist Joe Gittleman's hardcore background.
"I love ska - it's definitely my musical passion," says the gravel-voided Barrett. "But when you have me
on the microphone, it's not the sweet sound of Bob Marley. You've got to lean toward punk." Even so,
the Bosstones have broadened their horn-driven hybrid and grown more lyrically sophisticated.
The band's new CD includes a song about Boston's infamous Mayor Curley ("The Rascal King"), while the single
"The Impression That I Get" mulls issues of luck and tragedy.
For its part, Bim stokes some raw guitar on its latest disc, but remains more rootsy (with trombonist
Mark Paquin ably replacing Vinny Nobile, who moved to New York)> "We've never thought we sounded
too much like the Bosstones," Vitale says, "and we've never thought the Bosstones were ripping us off
in any way - which is surprising, coming from the same town and doing similar things for so long."
Barrett agrees that his Bosstones fall between Bim and the Offspring on the ska-punk axis. But a harder
sound will rule May 21 at Great Woods, as Boston's Tree and Offspring tourmates L7 join the
Crankin' & Skankin' Mass Fest. Explains organizer Barrett, "We both crank and skank" (the latter a
reference to the bent-limb dance common to ska and reggae).
The fest is another parochial brain storm in the tradition of the Bosstones
Hometown Throwdown, an annual multi-night residency in clubs around Boston.
"It's something I hope to do with three or four big bands every year - not
take out the Throwdown, but do something like that as a big outdoor summer
thing," Barrett says "We try to do things on a grand scale. I guess we are
Mighty Mighty. Anybody can be just mighty, right?"
The Improper Bostonian, 5/20/97
Dicky Barrett and Dan Vitale always trade copies of the latest CDs from their respective groups,
the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Bim skala Bim. But the mutual respect between the frontmen of Boston's
longest running ska rockers took another step when Barrett's band invited Bim to join the Bosstones
and the Offspring in kicking off the Great Woods season with the Crankin' and Skankin' Mass Fest May 21.
-Paul Robicheau
Boston's
Bim Skala Bim takes its ska trek 'Universal' Like most BSB albums, it doesn't have the punch of the band's live shows, but it has its moments.
Dan Vitale's voice goes from smooth and soulful on the more reflective midtempo
tracks to gritty and rocking on the band's more usual zippy songs. Maniacal
keyboards propel "Johnny O'Reilly" and great, flatulent horn sounds give oomph
to the euphemistic "Pete Needs a Friend." A touch of blues shows up in "Shakin'
All Over" and a couple of instrumentals showcase the band's musical telepathy.
The Boston Herald, 5/18/97
Still grooving after all these years, local flagship ska rockers Bim Skala Bim releases another
sturdy set in "Universal."
-Sarah Rodman