Bluebeat DC is a monthly ska and reggae night on the 2nd Thursdays of each month at the Wonderland Ballroom. We bring you local and touring bands and a great community! This month, we have two ska bands from New York City.
The Scrub Ups are a New York band built from unlikely combinations: ska rhythm, punk attitude, folk instrumentation, Americana color, dark humor, and a deep history in the city’s underground music lineage. Formed by Brendog Tween, cofounder of Mephiskapheles and Barbicide, the group began as a way to carry forward the creative spirit he shared with longtime collaborator Mikal Reich, while allowing the music to become something looser, stranger, and more expansive.
Rather than return to familiar genre territory, The Scrub Ups push outward. Thought Bubbles, the band’s debut full-length, brings together banjo, pedal steel, melodica, mandolin, baritone guitar, trombone, guitars, bass, drums, and a rotating cast of voices. The result is not traditional ska-punk, not Americana, not folk-punk, and not indie rock in any strict sense, but something that borrows from all of them: a Nashville lineup playing a Kingston sound through a New York punk filter.
Brooklyn upstarts Be Decent have forged a unique sound influenced by classic reggae, ska, and soul; ’70s heroes like The Clash, The Jam, The Specials, Dexys Midnight Runners, and Elvis Costello; and the ’90s ska they absorbed as kids. The group features Matt Mason (The Pietasters, Bad Manners, Uzimon) on tenor and baritone saxophone, Jimmy Doyle (The Fad, The Forthrights) on lead vocals and guitar, Geoff Bickford (IYKYK ’90s-era CT ska faves Jimmie Scooter) on drums, and Ken Partridge (author of the 2021 book Hell of a Hat: The Rise of ’90s Ska and Swing) on bass.