Bold, clean, fresh, and powerful: Doc Turbo is bringing skanking back with their new album, What’s So Important?
It seems very likely that you’ve never heard of Doc Turbo, unless you’ve read our previous coverage. This is their debut album, and it feels like everyone is sleeping on it. So if you haven’t heard them yet, and you are reading this, do us both a favor: Go hit Play below. Now that powerful noise that you just heard made you happy, didn’t it? I hope you can read and listen at the same time, otherwise I know you are choosing the music over the silly words on your screen. I don’t blame you.
History lesson: Doc Turbo first formed in Colorado in 1998 when they were in high school, under the name Dr. No. They played their local scene and were never particularly serious as a band, and took several hiatuses. The members eventually decided to reunite the band years later, as the members were in their 40s and several were married with kids; a band was a great excuse to get together and hang out. They put out an album in 2024 under their original name, but there were several other bands using variations of “Dr. No”. They decided they wanted to actually make this band thing a little more serious, so they changed their name and recorded an actual album, this time putting it on vinyl. They got members of Fishbone and Five Iron Frenzy to feature on the album, and they really stepped up the production.
OK, I understand that most of you didn’t take my advice to go put on the album. You should have, but my words are just too captivating, so I guess I’ll tell you about the music. With full sincerity, I believe that Doc Turbo is the most commercially viable American ska band in the last 20+ years, even more so than Millington or the Interrupters. They have a 90s ska vibe with modern pop radio influences. The very first song on the album has a Good Charlotte draw, and I mean that in the best way possible (and with none of the shitty people that make up Good Charlotte). That might not be what you want in a ska band, but no band is for everyone, and Doc Turbo is for a whole lot of someones. Their ska doesn’t feel campy; it feels like alternative pop with power, with production among the best I’ve heard from a ska band. If the Warped Tour wasn’t headlined by nostalgia, but continued to promote the best punk, ska, skate, and alternative music today, Doc Turbo would be at the top of next year’s flyers.
The lead track on What’s So Important?, “Lookin’ Like A Hot Time”, throws you right into the most pop-punk influenced song on the album. The drums are immediately recognizable as something special. While the song includes references to Madness and the Specials, there is absolutely nothing 2-tone or traditional ska in this song. It is pure ska punk, and it’s good, catchy, easy to sing along with, and motivating. It’s a summer blockbuster type of song.
But Doc Turbo is not a one trick pony. The third track “Lasso” has a feel of nostalgia, and has a lot more 2-tone influences. The ska rhythms definitely give a lot more movement. The lyrics of staying up late with someone and the promise to lasso the moon has a universal love vibe. But the descriptions of family life feel like they are describing a retro family: The dog barking in the yard, a father drinking alcohol and smoking cigars, gambling, and references to baseball cards. I feel like this description of the setting puts my mind in the 70s and 80s, and with the 2-tone influences, I’m stuck imagining Madness singing “Our House”. Musically, the songs aren’t particularly connected, but the vibes are immaculate. The vocal melody is a fucking bop, and the vibraslap and rhythm sticks are excellent.
“Steal and Borrow” feels a little bit like the East Coast reggae ska from Joe Gittleman and perhaps a little bit of the Slackers, which is not something I quite placed before I sat down to write about it. It’s a phenomenal song and showcases a bit of the diversity in sound. As per the rest of the album, everything is executed flawlessly and the sound is really clean.
“Criminal” was one of the pre-release singles for good reason: It’s an absolute bop of a love song in the lyrical vein of “Friday I’m in Love”, except each day describes a date as the protagonist falls in love before his amour reveals she is a wanted criminal. The second verse echoes the first, except now the dates are all crimes in the vein of the previous dates. It’s cute, fun, and catchy as hell.
“Life’s a Beach” features Reese Roper from Five Iron Frenzy and changes tempo to be one of the faster songs on the album. The pacing of the drums drives the song forward, at times with incredible quickness, yet there is somehow lots of room for the instruments to breathe. The bass and keyboard both slow the pace at times, but everything works together to bring joy.
While I could definitely go on about every song, the last one I’m going to talk about is “Skeleton Bones”. It features smooth ska upstrokes, long-held notes in most of the vocals in the verses, a really catchy chorus, and powerful horns. There’s an incredible instrumental breakdown and what feels like an allegory for a relationship built with skeletons in the closet and secrets. Very upbeat, but also a great song for a spooky-themed ska album.
You don’t want to miss the songs I didn’t discuss on this album, which closes with a song featuring Fishbone’s Angelo Moore. There is so much good on What’s So Important, as every song feels huge. To reiterate what I said at the beginning: The album very much feels like 90s ska meets 2010s and 2020s alt and pop. It is probably the most commercially viable American ska album in decades, but also, it still showcases a wide range of sounds and influences. This doesn’t feel like Reel Big Fish, Rancid, Less Than Jake, or any other commercially successful 90s ska band. Doc Turbo has their own sound, and you need to hear it.
Press Play on the YouTube playlist below to hear What’s So Important in its entirety.
Written by Gimp Leg
