Hailing from Queens, New York, The Doomstompers are one of the best brand new ska bands on the scene right now. Halfway through a 14-stop Midwest and East Coast US tour, the band released a single and announced their debut album on Bad Time Records. The band released four singles in 2025, and all of them slipped under my radar, but when they were announced on the tour with Joker’s Republic, I went back and checked them out and I was blown away. Holy shit, are they solid.
Unfortunately, with the timing of this tour and some major events in my life, I had to miss them this time, but I won’t make the mistake again if given the opportunity. The band has a nice rocksteady ska sound, with keyboards and no horns, much in the same vein as Catbite or Bad Operation, two of the best, most influential ska bands around right now.
“Political Jokes” jumps in early with some impressive guitar that masks the driving melody on the keyboard, before strong femme vocals come in calling out the media for scripted propaganda, maintaining the status quo, telling us what to think, and not to believe our eyes and ears. The chorus is centered around the biting tongue in cheek line that “the thing about political jokes is that they often get elected”.
The guitar riff from the beginning of the song was clearly foreshadowing, and returns in expanded form in the bridge, which is a lot of fun, and helps highlight some of the talents of the band. The last verse and the repeating chorus at the end of the song add some excellent production: Layered vocal tracks with some background vocals added in all add texture and depth to the track. It really feels as if the Doomstompers are poised to become one of the biggest names in ska for years to come, and I can’t wait.
Take a listen to “Political Jokes” below.
Written by Gimp Leg
