The legendary and infinite genre blending Michael “Brian/Bruce Lee” Park’s reverential DIY efforts often go unnoticed by both punks and rocks, and we hope that this potential Pulitzer Prize-winning piece alphabetically highlighting ten underrated albums from his label Asian Man Records changes that for you and your lousy family. Formed in 1996 in the wake of Park’s former company Dill Records, the label got off to a heavy ska-punk start in the vein of Operation Ivy with Link 80’s debut full-length studio album “17 Reasons,” and is still putting out quality releases today. We have more than seventeen reasons why but must note that re-releases, licensed efforts, compilations, EPs, subsidiary project LPs, albums from Alkaline Trio, Joyce Manor, The Lawrence Arms, and Big D and the Kids Table, or side projects from the like are not mentioned below:
AJJ “People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World” (2007)
America’s favorite politically Conservative leaning and literal hot, hotbed known as Phoenix, Arizona is an unlikely birthplace for AJJ, but said stinky and sweaty locale likely inspired the band’s atypical and non-Right Wing-tinged outlook on life and actual music. The band’s second studio album “People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World,” was their first for Asian Man; both diva Kurt Vonnegut and esteemed author Barbra Streisand must be so proud. If you wish that The Hotelier was more of a folk-punk acoustic act, then this band and album are for you! Plus, it is easily the best album title of all time sans hyperbole, and we aren’t taking any further questions on the matter.
The Chinkees “The Chinkees Are Coming” (1998)
It seems that Mike Park has been in more bands than SR-71’s Travis Barker, but The Chinkees (we didn’t come up with the band’s name, and we don’t like typing it) is certainly his most superior act not named Skankin’ Pickle. The band’s debut full-length studio album “The Chinkees Are Coming” is a third-wave ska blueprint front to back, and showed the listener that Park was both a fan of the past AND ahead of his time. Recorded with the yet-to-be-mentioned Tuesday as Park’s backup band prior to gigging as an all Asian unit, “The Chinkees Are Coming” will appeal to fans of The Gadjits and The Hippos.
Johnny Socko “Full Trucker Effect” (1997)
Speaking of the dastardly and polarizing three-letter word known as “ska,” Bloomington, Indiana’s own funk-influenced upstroke rockers Johnny Socko likely fell under your radar despite having the most third-wave band name of all time. Still, Hulk Hogan’s former best friend and confidant Todd Alan Clem certainly noticed the catchy Socko and epically used this album’s title track in its entirety as part of the introduction to Clem’s popular Sirius Satellite Radio Show “Bubba The Love Sponge”; yes, Bubba The Love Sponge. The diverse by definition effort from Johnny Socko, “Full Trucker Effect,” is their lone LP for Asian Man Records and without question the band’s best record, and after listening, at least half of your brain would agree. Sadly the band stopped their extremely heavy touring schedule just over twenty years ago in 2003, but happily they reunite every now and again for rock and roll shows in Indiana.
MU330 “Crab Rangoon” (1997)
If you ever wanted the klezmer superstars known as Less Than Jake to listen to more “Pinkerton,” and apply said emo-tinged influence to their later material, we implore you to check out all of our favorite full-length studio LP listed here, St. Louis, Missouri’s MU330’s “Crab Rangoon,” right now this very minute, and return back to us right after its final seconds wrap up and your heart smiles. Finito? Fantastic. Anyway, “Crab Rangoon” is the most underrated ska-punk release of all time not known as Edna’s Goldfish’s “Before You Knew Better,” and we wish that the collective planet, err, knew better, and agreed with our righteous stance regarding such. Some call this band “psycho ska,” but we here just call MU330 awesome. In closing, frontman Dan Potthast has released some rad solo efforts as well!
The Peacocks “Angel” (2001)
We’re unsurprisingly gambling humans over here, so we surmise that it is either this effort from Zurich, Switzerland’s The Peacocks known as “Angel,” or the next to be mentioned unit from Southern California’s Pushover that is the most unknown to you, the dear reader of this article that you will have zero issues with. Describe THEIR sound? We will try, fans of rockabilly tinged punk like Melbourne, Australia’s superstars The Living End or cowpunk-esque Southern California AF outlet Social Distortion won’t want their Spotify monthly subscription money back after listening to “Angel” in its entirety. While no longer on Asian Man Records, the band still performs today, but usually in Switzerland or over the pond. So long, hello two Langhards and Luder.
Pushover “Logic & Loss” (2000)
If Riverfenix/Fenix TX’s self-titled LP, The Get-Up Kids once they incorporated keyboards to their post-hardcore sound, The Reunion Show’s sole full-length “Kill Your Television,” or Mýa’s straight-edge New York Hardcore masterpiece “Fear of Flying” is the type of pop punk or pop rock that you go for and/or went for in the late-’90s/early aughts, then it was your literal loss missing out on Southern California’s Pushover around that time period. However, there is still time to enjoy the band, as it is never too late to learn something new, unless it is. If this album came out two or three years earlier, the band would likely have at least two or three more albums by now, but sadly, we are not Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown, so we are quite powerless, unless we have power. Fun fact: Pushover contains several members of another underrated band called Mealticket.
Slow Gherkin “Shed Some Skin” (1998)
Reminder, Santa Cruz, California’s Slow Gherkin may have the worst name for a ska punk band of all time, and that is saying A LOT as, outside of SoundCloud rap, which for some reasons contains more “Lils” than Debbie does, has the cringiest titles ever, but don’t be fooled by their poor taste in a band name and check out their sophomore effort “Shed Some Skin.” This record was ahead of its time in terms of the utilization of keyboards that the aforementioned The Hippos used just one year later on their nearly ska-less major label debut “Heads Are Gonna Roll.” If you dig “Shed Some Skin,” and we know that you will, check out their plethora of material prior and after. Fun fact that is not fun: Slow Gherkin has had a lot of band members, and if you disagree with a literal truth, check out their Wikipedia page!
Spraynard “Funtitled” (2011)
Speaking of timing, which is a less of a blessing and more of a curse for many of these albums here, West Chester, Pennsylvania, and not New York’s Spraynard’s excellently titled “Funtitled” LP would have far more reverence towards it and its glory if this album came out after Modern Baseball’s “Sports” or The Front Bottoms’ “Talon of the Hawk”. “Funtitled” is the lone release here from the 2010s and also has the distinction of being the newest effort mentioned here. Still, its album cover is the gold medalist in this piece, and cats are neither spooky or scary but they are quite exciting with computer magic. Good enough for you, Gary? Ah, we hope so, as this is FAR from a sophomore slump… And their 2015 LP “Mable,” their 2015 features an animal on its cover too!
Tuesday “Freewheelin’” (1997)
“Freewheelin’” > “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”… Fight us if you disagree with our just and righteous opinion, as we’re masters of war and can make you disappear. Anyway, Thursday may have stolen this band’s emotional thunder too much of today, but said day of the week doesn’t include Alkaline Trio’s Dan Andriano in their esteemed lineup like Tuesday does. In the wake of Chicago ska-punk band Slapstick, who released a compilation of tracks via Asian Man Records the same year as “Freewheelin’,” Tuesday banded together and ditched the off-beat upstrokes in favor of arpeggios and octave chords for just one EP and LP before calling it a day in 1999 shortly after their The Chinkees collab with AMR label owner Mike “Muhammed Ali” Park. At just ten tracks and slightly over a half an hour, this LP is a bike race that ends way too soon; goodbyes have been said.
Unsteady “Double Or Nothing” (1997)
Swing had a successful few-month run in the late-’90s wherein it was the mainstream sound with surprisingly large acts such as Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, and Embrace waving the Los Feliz flag as high as the eye can see, and San Diego, California’s Unsteady utilized said genre influence along with traditional ska, jazz, rocksteady, and Norwegian death metal epically on their second full-length studio LP “Double Or Nothing.” Opening an album with a five-minute instrumental is as punk as punk could be, and Unsteady’s genre-blending and musically proficient sound managed to stick out whilst not taking control of the world. Pity. As of press time, the band is at 396 monthly Spotify listeners, so we hope that you all infect its stream count page and make it the number 401 by the end of next month.