Both the East Coast's and West Coast's most diverse ska acts have the same success formula: They do it their way.
No Doubt, of Orange County, Calif., and Boston's Mighty Mighty Bosstones have something in common - their style of ska (the skittering, fast-paced forebear of reggae) isn't exactly traditional. Both bands blend funk and reggae into their horn-heavy dance rhythms, unlike the more traditional, Two-Tone approaches of some of their other U.S. counterparts, like Bim Skala Bim, the New York Citizens or the Toasters.What the two bands also share is a tour itinerary that includes Salt Lake City.
No Doubt will makes its Utah appearance July 20 at Club DV8, 115 S. West Temple, while the Bosstones will play the Bar and Grill, 60 W. 800 South, July 23.
Additionally, the two bands feature distinctive vocalists. Where No Doubt's Gwen Stefani would rather caress the band's tunes with her sweetly smoldering styles, the Bosstones' Dickie Barrett belts his out with a harsh, chain-smoked bass growl.
Stefani was recently harshly (and unfairly) compared to Madonna in a recent California review. Instead, she said she draws much of her style from Pauline Black, the singer from ska pioneers the Selecter.
"I really do listen to her voice a lot," Stefani said in a recent telephone interview. "I almost try to copy some of the ways she would sing but still try to keep it my unique voice."
Perhaps the biggest difference in the two bands is the Bosstones' brushes with hard-core and metal sounds. However. Barrett said the band does want to avoid full-flung excursions into those genres.
"(Ska) is as easy as hard-core and everyone (at the time the band formed) was playing hard-core," Barrett said in a recent telephone interview. "We wanted to do something different. We're all just friends hanging out and having fun together."
Both bands also pride themselves on their lively stage shows, as Stefani said No Doubt turns up the tempo and lets their music do the talking. Utah County is undoubtedly still buzzing about Barrett and his bandmates' last Utah excursion: last winter's "Skalapalooza" show that packed in 1,000 fans and left them craving more.
The opening acts for both shows reflect the headliners' personalities. Local ska favorites Swim Herschel Swim, perhaps the state's best unsigned act, will open for No Doubt, while Fat Tuesday and Malignous Youth, both hard-core acts, will open for the Bosstones.
Tickets for the No Doubt show, which starts at 9 p.m., are $5 from either the club, Orem's Crandall Audio or all Graywhale CD Exchange locations. The Bosstones show also starts at 9 p.m., and tickets are $10 in advance from the Bar and Grill.