Skavoovie & The Epitones - Growler

via:You & Me on a Jamboree!

Anybody remember Boston's, "Skavoovie & The Epitones"? An amazing bunch of talented high school kids that rose big in the ska boom of the latter 90's. They used to tour in this rad black and white school bus. They weren't ever my favorite but they were very credible in the fact that they were musicians first. Comparable to Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, they were a large ensemble that also were conscious of their stage presence and image.
This album was their lesser known effort and ultimately their last. Much more diverse than their debut, "Fat Footin". I know that Chris Murray was somehow involved in the production of the album, and contributed the first track "Boyo". Boyo was an old King Apparatus song and is also featured on Chris Murray's "4-Trackaganza".
Songs that appealed to me was, "Boyo", "The Coffee Connection" and "Zombie Song". But what sticks out to me the most was "Salad Days" this song could singularly signify the end of the what people called the 3rd Wave of ska. The "Ghost Town" for the 90's. This song is meant to tell us that party isn't over and Skavoovie & The Epitones will outlive all of the crappy ska bands out there (for we all know there were so many). "...It's not the end of the salad days...". But what really happened? Skavoovie & The Epitones broke up. It was not only the end of the salad days but the end of the Epitones. By 1999, Ska was tired. "Salad Days" signifies that it was over by simply calling attention to it. Oh the irony.