Here in your bedroom

To paraphrase the Beatles, it was ten years ago today that John Feldman taught the kids to skank. Goldfinger‘s debut, self-titled full length hit stores shelves ten years ago, on February 27, 1996. It was the first real commercial success of the burgeoning ska-punk underground scene.

Yes, Rancid‘s …And Out Come the Wolves had dropped four or five months prior, in October of ’95, and its lead-off single was the massively ska-influenced “Time Bomb.” However, “Here In Your Bedroom” charted at #5 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts, whereas “Time Bomb” only made it to #8. Granted, Rancid’s album ended up charting at #45, and Goldfinger’s only made it to #110.

The weird thing? Rancid had two ska songs on their disc (“Time Bomb” and “Old Friend”), and Goldfinger had three (“King For A Day”, “Answers”, and “Pictures”). Rancid used “Time Bomb” as their lead-off single, and Goldfinger used “Here In Your Bedroom”, which is straight pop-punk… but the “Here In Your Bedroom” video features an amazing amount of ska imagery, despite not once lapsing into off-beat rhythm. Let’s do the rundown, shall we?

Kids in suits. Kids skanking and twisting. CHECKRBOARD FLOOR. Yeah. Never has more ska-related imagery been used to a non-ska song. It’s really odd. Good, but odd. Seriously, the video looks like it should be for “Superman”, the VERY ska tune off Goldfinger’s sophomore album, Hang Ups. It wasn’t the SONG that got the whole ska thing going, it was the VIDEO. But back to the album itself…

It’s a great disc. Even ten years later (just typing that makes me feel old), it still kicks some ass. Reel Big Fish‘s Turn the Radio Off and Less Than Jake‘s Losing Streak are the only ska-punk albums from that era that get any sort of regular play in my cd player. They all have this ability to take me back to a time when wearing a suit and a porkpie hat to a show didn’t seem like a dumb idea, and I wasn’t so jaded that I wouldn’t haul cds along to get signed.

Speaking of which, the first time I saw Goldfinger play a club, it was nine years ago last month. They played the Bottleneck with Reel Big Fish, the Skeletones, and Kansas City pop-punkers the Nuclear Family. It is, to date, one of the best shows I’ve ever fucking been to. None of the bands were huge yet, ska hadn’t really hit its brief flair-up of popularity, and everyone (and I mean everyone) knew every song. It was one of those things that got me hooked, and hooked hard on this whole music thing.

The next morning I woke up with nicotine-stained fingers at 6am and went to a Scholar’s Bowl tournament in Atchison. It was the start of a long and fraughttful life of trying to balance music with responsibilities. I haven’t hit that balance yet, and I doubt I ever will.

Goldfinger – “Here In Your Bedroom
Goldfinger – “The City With Two Faces
Goldfinger – “Here In Your Bedroom” (video)