Mega Bad Disaster Party – Mega Infinity/Bad Mary (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Punk and ska have been natural allies for a long time. Even before the ska/punk scene exploded in the US in the late eighties, a decade before and an ocean away, British two-tone bands had been mixing the two sounds together to great success and before that, our lords and saviours, The Clash merged those worlds.

What Mega Bad Disaster Party, a four-track split single (remember those?) from Mega Infinity and Bad Mary, perhaps shows is that, although we always knew that those two sounds worked together like a charm, rock and roll can similarly be integrated into the ska sound—at least the type of rock ‘n’ roll that Bad Mary makes. But then again, they have always been closer to pop and punk, and now, it would seem ska, than most of their rivals.

Mega Infinity kick things off with their brace of contributions. “Eyelids 2024” sees them joined by ska-punk stalwarts Joystick! and reminds us of how close the modern ska-punk sound is to the more extreme end of more traditional ska music rather than its punk influences – infectious and groovesome, accessible and brilliantly dance-able. “Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart” is a brilliant pop song that has been imbued with an unexpected blast of vim and verve, pep and power thanks to the genres it gets to hang around with.

The second half of the record (yes, I still call them records; get over it) is all about Bad Mary doing what they do best, only this time with horn sections and skanking grooves. “Disaster(er) takes the best of their rock and roll grit and lacerates it with sonic ska tissue, while “Want What I Want” is a brilliantly anthemic blend of rock abrasiveness, ska horn stabs, and punk energy.

Pop punk and Ska-punk were done to death by the end of the nineties, murdered by their inherent frat-boy humour and cliched templates. Thankfully, there has been enough breathing space for the scene to reinvent itself, and if this split single is an example of what is happening in that sonic space today, count me in – and do so in frantic 4/4 time and on an off-beat upstroke.