How the American rainbow reboot of British 2-Tone which itself originated from 1950’s Jamaican Ska and Bluebeat story is gloriously told in Taylor Morden’s ‘Pick It Up! Ska In The ‘90s’ documentary. The film chronicles the origins of Ska-Punk from its early inception right up until the present day. The film’s narration comes from Rancid’s Tim Armstrong who adds that slightly slurry but tangible 7-11 parking lot at sundown feel. Tim’s voice commands your ears to prick up because when he speaks you listen and ultimately you listen because you know here’s someone who knows his music and sub-cultural heritage. Right before Ska-Punk briefly took over the American charts in the mid to late Nineties the alternative, away from pop music, was pretty much made up of Grunge, Corporate stadium Rock and Hip Hop. 2-Tone was all but a distant memory but similar to Punk when an explosive movement leaves a creator that big following generations want to scratch a little deeper and suss the root cause of such a huge blast and boy did they scratch and still do. No Doubt’s monster ‘Tragic Kingdom’ album only had fleeting moments of Ska on it but those moments were enough to (help) kick start a new breed of mainstream Ska or Ska-Punk that had been bubbling below the surface for many years beforehand, then to the naked eye, it literally rocketed skywards.
‘Pick It Up’ deals with East Coast vs West Coast Ska, the movements DIY ethic, the importance of all-age shows, compilation tapes/CD’s, the dark commercial cloud of Napster and how Tony Hawks video game all gave a pre-Spotify generation the fuel needed to board the latest train to Skaville. The Ska-Punk bands brass section also gets deconstructed and we learn that all horn players were uncool geeks who learnt how to play in elementary school bands and that anyone can Skank anyone. This is sooo true and skanking may be the only true 100% all-inclusive dance that anyone from five to ninety-five can attempt without prejudice or fear of ridicule, because we all can (and should) skank. The viewer witnesses the rise, fall and re-rise of Ska from its commercial peak to the sales freefall as the rise of Nu-Metal washed over the Ska deck, for a short while. Of all the excellent interviewees (and there are many) on ‘PIU’ it’s Aaron Barrett whom I still want to hear the most from, he proves to be a deeply interesting, funny, humble, awkward and vulnerable orator. His band Reel Big Fish surfed the commercial tsunami back in the day and are still out there playing those songs that hooked a new wave of the chequered Vans wearing Ska devotees.
Today, Ska’s message of unity, unity and more unity seems apter than ever in this splintered world and said message is not coming from elected leaders it’s coming from the sidewalk, schools/colleges and of course the three unified generations of Ska. From Jamaican Ska/Bluebeat in the fifties then British 2-Tone in the late seventies/early eighties on to American Ska-Punk in the nineties and beyond this infectious form of music continues to entertain, educate and mean something to its millions of followers across the globe. ‘Pick It Up’ is a well crafted visual and aural history of this ever reverberating music we lovingly call, in all of its forms, Ska.
‘PICK IT UP! SKA IN THE’ 90s’
The Definitive Third Wave Skaumentary
A Film by Taylor Morden
9/10