I think I made mention of this before that I managed to collect a disproportionate amount of music from 1998 (give or take a year), featuring many bands that promptly went nowhere. Here we have the well-meaning but short-lived Dion Knibb & the Agitators, a proud part of New England's vibrant third-wave ska scene of the 1990's. Dion Knibb is the son of Skatalites drummer Lloyd Knibb and according to the fossilized remains of their website, the band is a sort-of merger between select elements of that venerable old band and some outfit called Steady Earnest. With all of the Skatalite connections, it seems only fitting that they are a bit more trad than their more punk-ish peers from the time and region.
I love that there's a track here called "Monica Lewinsky" - too bad it's an instrumental! There's a lot of instrumental work here, almost to the point of causing nervousness in the ranks of the New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble. The vocals, when present, are a little shaky in the delivery department, which may be the reason behind this, but who knows.
I can't tell from the scanty online information out there if Dion Knibb & the Agitators still exist as a performing unit, but this appears to be their only album.
Steady Earnest was a long-standing Mass. ska band (early '90s). I used to write for a ska zine in NYC called "Mind Toilet" (we even had a glossy cover!) and I got Dion Knibb's 4-song demo tape to review before this album came out. Thank you for bringing back the memories. I wish I still had this album, good to put on the background when I was doing my college coursework.
ReplyDeleteHi Jim, thanks for commenting (so rare here, but I'm not trying to be popular). I got this as a freebie doing college radio back in Maine. A lot of the stuff with the "lost bands" tag are this kind of thing. Let me know if you are interested in regaining this album. I think we can work something out here.
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