There Was No "Q" Band...

Band: Mad Caddies

Country: USA

Notable Album: Quality Soft Core

Favourite Song: Polyester Khakis

OK I don't have and couldn't find a ska band that starts with the letter Q so I have decided to do a Q album instead!  For those of you who now hate me for breaking the chain, I feel a deep shame in my very core for letting you down - but get over it and read this anyways.

They played at the Opera House in
November 2009.  Jealous?

The Mad Caddies are a ska-punk band from the United States, and I have had the privilege of seeing them live once.  I was even so kind as to buy James one of their shirts since he pretended to break his arm and couldn't go to the show.  Stuart and Erin and I had more fun without him anyways.  The Mad Caddies play an interesting style of ska, that honestly sometimes reminds me of circus music.  But it means that it's easy to distinguish them from any other third-wave band that you might hear.  Their style has changed rather significantly over their career - starting off with fast silly songs, moving on to a nearly ska-less album, and then coming back with a great album of real smooth ska and punk.  It's interesting to listen to a band's discography and listen to them legitimately mature over several albums - other bands that come to mind are Bedouin Soundclash (until this most recent album, what a piece of garbage) and Big D & The Kids Table (also with a terrible recent album).


Quality Soft Core is my second-favourite album by the Mad Caddies.  My favourite is Keep It Going - a return in 2007 from the nearly ska-less Rock The Plank (the only redeeming track on RTP was Weird Beard - what a badass song.) and the not-so-awesome Just One More (but listen to Leavin'), and a progression into a much more lyrically and musically mature stance in the ska-punk scene.  But since Keep It Going is not by a Q band and does not start with Q, I am left with no choice but to exclude it from this blog. Quality Soft Core is the first Mad Caddies album.  It was released in 1997 and it's easy to tell that it's a debut release.  The music style is a bit scattered - weird time signatures, variations of standard chord progressions, a really strange guitar tone, and quick shifts from ska to punk to "circus" - but all wrapped up into one really unique album that's pretty entertaining to listen to.  It's definitely got the quirkiness and interesting musicality that the Caddies are known for now, but this album pushes the character of their band more to the front than it does for their music.  For whatever reason, Chuck decides to sing in a weird accent for a lot of tracks - which is fun but takes away from some of the musical enjoyment.  Despite the criticisms, I think it's a great starting point for a band that had to make their mark somehow in an underrated and somewhat generic genre - I highly recommend it to anyone who wants some fun, easy-to-listen-to ska in their collection.


My favourite song from this album is actually the first Mad Caddies song I ever heard.  In a time long ago, when the mystical powers of Pandora weren't blocked in the magical land of Canada, I typed "Less Than Jake" into the playlist bar, and Polyester Khakis was one of the first tracks to show up as a suggestion.  I can actually remember when I first heard it - it was my grandparents' 50th anniversary and we were at their house the day after the reception.  Not only were we there for their anniversary, it was also my birthday weekend (I got a ride cymbal!) and I was upstairs doing some schoolwork before we had a big family dinner.  That Monday, I went to school and listened to all the Mad Caddies music I could find online, and over the past few years I've grown my collection from just Polyester Khakis to their entire album collection.  The song itself is a really interesting mix of ska and punk, with a super catchy riff in the pre-verse.  The chorus is easy to learn, and it's even easier to get stuck in your head!  But luckily it's a good track - much better than getting something like Rihanna going "UMBER-ELLA ELLA ELLA EH EH EH" stuck for days (Is it there now?  Is Umbrella playing in your mind? Is it stuck on repeat? Do you hate me?  Don't hate - you know you loved that song at one point or another.).  So yes, it's a good song - weird, but good.


Buy the album here!  Or buy the better one, Keep It Going, here!  Or buy both here!  The possibilities are endless!  The R band will be easy but I have a busy day tomorrow - let's see what happens.  SEE YOU TOMORROW!