For the second time already this year, I get to cover the debut album for a ska band from a state where I resided. Los Ocupados is out of Olympia, Washington, and I was fortunate enough to get to see them play live on numerous occasions prior to this release, so I’ve been looking forward to the album for a couple years now.
Los Ocupados has a sound that I find extremely hard to describe, which is great, because it means they make their own sound and aren’t treading too close to what other bands have done before them. It’s ska punk, but sounds nothing like third wave ska. It’s slow and melodic, but it also sounds like a faster version of two tone ska. It has some slow reggae and Latin ska vibes and at times reminds me of Girls Go Ska, but I lay some of that on my inability to understand Spanish, so the songs that have Spanish vocals probably bias my opinion. Regardless of how you want to define them, the music is great. It’s pleasant, and danceable, and the lyrics are meaningful and valuable. In that way, it kind of reminds me of the Slackers, with a little more punk influence, or perhaps like the 90s 3rd Wave band the Skalars, with horns instead of keys. But, rather than trying to nail down the sound, I should just talk about the music.
The album starts off with some smooth rhythms as lead singer Mari Wendler leads us in a lesson about working together, building communities and making sure the future is better today and ensuring we don’t fall into the patterns of the mistakes of the past. History repeats itself, and if we don’t come together and learn from our mistakes, then we will never move on. It’s nice to hear such an important message in such a smooth song. It’s the poet’s job to educate the masses in a way that is easy to learn, and right off the bat, Los Ocupados demonstrates they are up for the task.
The second track is “Anxiety Fest”, and as one would expect, deals with mental health, stress and anxiety. The thick persistent bassline in this song is it’s main driver, and it feels like it has a little extra soul in it. The backing vocals during the chorus add so much energy it feels so damn danceable, and I absolutely love the drums during the chorus. While the song doesn’t quite pull me out on the dance floor, it definitely begs me to start tapping my toes and moving my hips.
The star of the album is the third track, the song the album was named after, and the logo of their merchandise, “Only Ska Can Save Us”. The track starts off a little slow, but picks up and is hopeful in tone and message, a reminder that many of us are struggling with our mental health, but we all have music. Sometimes we need to disconnect, or focus on community, and put on a record, and let the music save us.
I don’t normally like to discuss every song on an album, andnI swear I’m not going to here either, but like the first 3 tracks on the album, the 4th also warrants a more in depth review. “Oh Please Let’s Argue” is the first song to feature masc vocals, which adds a new layer to the album. The song is about being online too much, arguing about politics, and escaping information silos, and like the songs before it, it’s catchy and fun, and has a point, but the switch in lead vocalists, with Mari taking backing vocals adds a nice textural shift that isn’t isolated to just this track.
The album features a very well fitting cover of Weird Al Yankovic’s “Dare to be Stupid” that is a little faster paced than the rest of the album, but thematically fits so well with the rest of the album that you’d not be mistaken for not realizing it was a cover if you’d never heard it before. I think that says a lot about the quality of the lyrics and songwriting for this album. It’s a little more tongue in cheek than the other songs, as Weird Al is a master of the craft, but it is exactly the type of song Los Ocupados is writing, especially with songs like “Oh Please Let’s Argue”.
There are still two other tracks I want to mention, that are both sung in Spanish. “Feminista de Bolsillo” and “Lejos de Casa” are both sung in Spanish. “Feminista de Bolsillo” is a song about modern feminism, but is also one of the catcher songs on the album, with great traditional upstrokes and some smooth horn lines throughout the song. “Lejos de Casa” is the album closer, and takes a much slower, acoustic pacing, that features some duets on the vocals, and is about missing your home and love in your heart regardless of distance. The final verse of the song is repeated in English to close out the album.
This album is a solid debut. I appreciate the path that it forges, feeling both unique and familiar, punk but not aggressive, ska, but not laying heavy on any one wave or style. It’s pleasant, with good writing and solid performances. I feel like there is still room for growth, to show off some more of the musical talents, a few more hooks or melodies that make you sing along even after the album is done, but this is absolutely an album worth listening to, start to finish, with no skips, and adding to your playlist.
It’s a good time to remember the problems we all face, the need for community, to lift each other up, to disconnect from the internet, to put on that record, and to remember that only ska can save us.
Written by Gimp Leg
