Note: Skavoovie and the Epitones will play the Bar & Grill, 60 E. 800 South, Friday, July 26. The doors open at 7 p.m.
LET'S GO BOWLING; "Mr. Twist;" (Moon); * * * 1/2.THE SCOFFLAWS; "Ska in Hi-Fi;" (Moon); * * * .
SKAVOOVIE AND THE EPITONES; "Fat Footin';" (Moon); * * * 1/2.
Ska fans continue to debate which school of ska music has the most merit, the slower, more traditional, "old school" style, or the faster "third wave" style that sometimes blends funk and punk into the mix.
But some fans and bands have avoided the whole controversy and have decided to just enjoy both styles. Three recent releases spotlight some acts that have wisely discovered the perfect blend between the old and new styles and have enjoyed some degree of success because of it.
Let's Go Bowling's second album, "Mr. Twist," was partially completed before founding member David Weins left. The tracks he co-wrote, especially "Sultan's Cross" and the title number, are among the CD's strongest because of his bright, warm trombone work.
However, tracks completed without him, including "Uncomfortable Sidekick" and the briskly paced cover of the Spanish folk song "Cumbia del Sol," show the group's horn-heavy originals, evenly split between simmering instrumentals and vocal numbers, are at least nearly as good.
If Let's Go Bowling continues to make musical leaps like the one made from their debut, "Music to Bowl By," to the new one, the group could be California's very best ska acts.
Scofflaws founding members Richard Brooks (saxophone, vocals) and Buford O'Sullivan (trombone, vocals) were originally in New Bohemians before Edie Brickell joined and took the band from ska to hippy pop-funk.
Their considerable musical talents and experience enliven "Ska in Hi-Fi," which is advertised on the CD jacket as being "designed for dancing."
Here the band mixes savvy covers (Duke Ellington and Herbie Hancock among them) with sometimes great originals (Dig that swinging tribute to "William Shatner"!) that makes it very hard to resist its danceable grooves. Not every song is as great as "The Whip Version" and "Back Door Open," but this is only the group's second album, after all.
Given the relative youth of the band (most of the members are in their teens or early 20s), it's astonishing that Skavoovie and the Epitones sound the most similar to the older ska greats, like the Skatalites.
"Fat Footin'," the group's debut, ranges from near-jazz (the lively "She Sure Can Cook") to Cab Calloway scat (a cover of his "Old Man of the Mountain") to bluebeat, the middle ground between reggae and ska ("Solomon Gundy"). And the band wisely cuts down on the vocals and extraneous solos to make streamlined, memorable ska.
Even an awful cover of Danny Elfman's "Batman" movie theme, which alternatingly slows down and speeds up, can't sabotage the album. In fact, the song is the only bad track out of 15.