The Anchorage

Ska is such a scapegoat on movie soundtracks. I was watching Kingpin the other night with Woody Harrelson and Bill Murray. It’s an awesome Farrelly Brother’s comedy that has a plot arc similar to your Hoosiers, washed up coach that helps a young Bowler, in this case to reach his potential. As the washed up coach played by Harrelson and the young blood, played by Randy Quaid meander their storyline and pin knocking rise toward the Bowling Championships there are a number of getaways from a number of awkward situations. It’s classic.

Every time that Woody and Randy were pulling one of these famous getaways ska rock band, Goldfinger’s tune gets slipped in… And then I thought, Ska Punk at this point is a stereotype. BUT WAIT! Just like the bowlers of Kingpin getaway so does The Anchorage, an alternative ska punk band out of Salt Lake City.

The Anchorage is redefining what horns can do with a rock band. That band is The Anchorage. These guys are an amalgamation of ska punk players from various SLC Punk bands from the Oughts. When they come together an alternative sound reveals itself that has a melodic dissonance that reminds me of At The Drive In. The Anchorage’s vocals are much more melodic than At The Drive In, but they capture some beautiful dissonance with their guitar playing and how the songs move between emotions of happiness and sadness and the blend of the two.

The ska that they do take provides the upbeat and hopeful feels that the genre leans on, but once the crunching guitars come in your can taste and feel the tension. The guitar tones are that of Our Lady Peace, Bush and like Lit records that came out in the early millennium. It’s weird, ’cause moments of Sugar Ray even appear on their latest record. Ya know, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones do this well, but are more unabashedly ska than this band.

The horn playing is not novel at all. On the third track, “Donny,” of their 2019 release, “What We Went Through,” there is a magnificent trumpet solo at the end of the song that is short and sweet, but really puts the final touch on that song. It’s like the solo isn’t needed, but adds an element of getting the last word in. I think we’ve all done that at times that we just felt like we had to or else we’d regret it forever. Sometimes music is like that.

Check this band out on their bandcamp page. Their three records are on there. They also have some pretty cool videos on YouTube if you search their namesake. The clean sounds that this band provides is truly modern, whilst giving you familiar tones of 90’s ska punk that like I said, can be found in your favorite films like “Clueless,” and “PCU.”

Check out more artist reviews here.