In the late 2010s, I found myself living the life of a Midwest beach bum on the shores of Lake Michigan. If you have never seen the Great Lakes in person, this may sound ridiculous to you, but anyone who's been to Kimmel Beach themselves knows that the Great Lakes are more like freshwater inland seas than what you’re probably picturing when I say lake. I spent a fat portion of the summer of 2019 hiking the towering dunes, exploring crumbling sandbars, fishing where permissible, and, on clear nights, sleeping on the beach, drifting off to the sound of colossal twenty-foot waves crashing on the pebbly shores. During this time, I developed an obsession with reggae and ska; the beach has that effect on you. My days were soundtracked with Sublime, Saving Ferris, Slightly Stoopid, Pepper, and the Interrupters.
I’m about three hours from the Lakes now, but these bands still hold a special place in my heart. Each time I hear one of them on the radio, I find myself back to being nineteen years old, watching a rip tide eat everything in its path with a fish taco in one hand and a bottle of rum in the other. So, when I heard there was a new Interrupters single dropping, I was beyond stoked.
If you have never been a piece of pothead surf scum, then you may not be aware that the Interrupters are LA’s native ska all-stars. Over the course of their career, these cats have released four studio albums, earned multiple spots on the indie and rock charts, and toured from coast to coast. It’s been a long road for the band, and this new single, “Warrior Spirit,” is their latest step forward into an ever brighter future.
The Interrupters have been given many labels over the years: ska, 2-tone, and punk, to name a few. But “Warrior Spirit” is unlike anything they have put out thus far. The song has some of those classic punk elements you would expect from the band: the fast guitars, a quick, punchy beat, and raspy vocals peppered throughout; however, this is undoubtedly a new wave song. It’s in the undulating synth melodies, which take those punk-rock drums and morph them into something all new; it’s in the arrangements, which are exploratory and harmonious instead of sharp and biting. It’s distinctly 80s, something you may have heard from the Talking Heads, the B-52s, or the Police in their heyday. It’s not ska, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make me want to crack open an ice-cold 40, bury my feet in the sand, and watch the sun set over the Chicago skyline far off on the other side of Lake Michigan.
This one is a real treat for us longtime Interrupters fans; it’s a chance to see the band try something new while still honoring our old-school favorites. If you’re a recent convert, this may not be the most accurate representation of the rest of the band's catalog, but it has all the energy and style of the classics, so you really can’t go wrong with it. You can catch “Warrior Spirit” streaming everywhere now, so take a moment today to step away from the gloom of October and let the Interrupters wow you with this retro hit.
