Fishbone 101: Nuttasaurusmeg Fossil Fuelin
Here's a righteous romp through the free-spirited L.A. ska-punk pioneers' history. This two-CD set features a well-chosen best-of disc that pulls prime cuts such as "Party at Ground Zero" and "U.G.L.Y" (from Fishbone's mercurial 1985debut), "Bonin' in the Boneyard" and "Freddie's Dead" (from 1988'sTruth and Soul), "Everyday Sunshine" and "Sunless Saturday" (from 1991'sThe Reality of My Surroundings), and "Black Flowers" (from the 1993 swan song,Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe). Disc 2 features formative demo tracks from the group's early-'80s incarnation; it's amazing to hear their development from fun, awkward ska players to assured monster musicians, from scrappy horn band to metalloid mofos. Fishbone's influence--be it on the Red Hot Chili Peppers or the Mighty Mighty Bosstones--is massive; their success wasn't. This retrospective clarifies why, for once, you could believe the hype.--James Rotondi