Operation Ivy - Energy

Just in case you didn't know: Energy is the name of the original 19 song LP from '89. The self-titled is the '91 reissue combining Energy with 1988's Hectic EP and the tracks from Maximumrocknroll's Turn It Around! compilation. Now that that's off the table, let's talk about the left hand corner's resident .jpeg image:

It might seem a little redundant to cover such a well known, ridiculously influential classic like Operation Ivy's sole LP, but whatever, I really, really, love this album and felt like talking about it. In fact, along with Slapstick's Lookit!, Gangster Fun's Time Flies When You're Gangster Fun, and Blue Meanies' Kiss Your Ass Goodbye, this album finally got me to pull the thorn of prejudice against ska-punk out of my side and embrace the complete whitewashing of a black originated genre. But hey, those are the absolute essentials of growing up, so we don't need to go into any more detail. Also: obligatory joke about ska's role in Christian youth in the 90's.

A lot of people refer to songs like "Knowledge", "Unity", "The Crowd", and "Caution" as Operation Ivy's classics, and while I'd agree that those are incredible tracks, the amount of praise heaped upon them sorta downplays the greatness of the rest of the album. There really isn't a single bad or even mediocre song here, and "Missionary" is probably one of the all time best closers - in league with "The Nautical Mile" and "Postures (Leave Your Body Behind)" as far as personal favorites go. I figure I don't really need to painstakingly describe these guys' sound if you stumbled upon this blog, but it's basically a mix of roughly produced East Bay pop punk and speedy ska guitar, the occasional horn, and vocal interplay provided by all four members (with Jesse Michaels at the helm, of course).
Man, do I not sound excited to be reviewing this. Try to ignore that please, I'm tired. I always take way too fuckin' long writing these entries and end up completely wiped out by the end and my writing gets slack as hell. Maybe blow up some balloons and throw confetti while you read it to synthesize my enthusiasm for this album.
Here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?nsxulenn0ue

I know ska is about as fashionable as pastel track pants nowadays, but if you somehow haven't heard this yet, give it a shot or two before you write it off. As far as the genre goes, this is it's masterpiece, and one of the most compulsively listenable albums I can think of. I'll probably cover this in a future post, but check out Jesse Michael's second full fledged band while you're at it - Common Rider. Their debut, Last Wave Rockers, is something I've probably spun more times than what could be considered healthy.