Reel Big Fish was one of the legions of southern California ska-punk bands to edge into the mainstream following the mid-90s success of No Doubt and Sublime. Like most of their peers, the band was distinguished by their hyperkinetic stage shows, juvenile humour, ironic covers of new wave pop songs, and metallic shards of ska. The group cultivated an underground following that broke into the mainstream in summer 1997, when their single Sell Out became a modern rock radio and MTV favourite. Their appearance in the movie Basketball as the halftime band also gained them more fans and helped the band’s popularity to grow. Still fronted by original lead singer and songwriter Aaron Barrett, they continue releasing albums and touring relentlessly, playing more and more countries and bigger venues all over the world.
On 31 July 2012 Reel Big Fish released their seventh studio album, Candy Coated Fury (Rock Ridge Music), an inspired and infectiously catchy return to the hyperkinetic ska and biting wit of the band’s beloved early albums. Candy Coated Fury is Reel Big Fish’s first album of newly recorded original material in five years. Overall, it’s the seventh in the band’s twenty-year history, and it feels as vital and vitriolic as RBF’s foundational releases.
Reel Big Fish continues to tour non-stop, playing over 250 shows a year to thousands of loyal fans all over the world, gaining more and more underground popularity as the Ska scene continues to flourish.
You can see them this Friday at the Coolangatta Hotel.
