For all aspects of society, 2020 has been a most unconventional year. But between a pandemic, killer hornets, and Rick Moranis getting sucker-punched in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, I doubt anyone expected Todd Rundgren and Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) to team up and try to revive ska.
It’s not the most surprising move for Rundgren, once described by Rolling Stone as Rock’s Renaissance Man. Then there’s Cuomo, who last year made waves with the innovative move of putting out an entire album of other people’s music. Together, the two made the kind of project that music hipsters buy and never open because it’ll only depreciate in value, much like the Comic Book Guy who never plays with his action figures.
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The song itself, “Down With The Ship”, is actually not terrible and is ah homage to true 1960s Jamaican ska rather than some Reel Big Fish garbage. Rundgren once again draws inspiration from reggae and African rhythms, similar to the tones found on his 1983 smash shit “Bang The Drum All Day”. However, beneath the facade of the upbeat rhythms and pulsating horns, there’s actual lyrical content. Rundgren explained it as, “Just a little parable about what happens when you align yourself with a treacherous leader.”
Stream “Down With The Ship” from Todd Rundgren and Rivers Cuomo now. The song is set to appear on Rundgren’s upcoming album Space Force, which will be released as digital singles “every 3 or 4 weeks with the entire album coming in early 2021.”
Todd Rundgren, Rivers Cuomo – “Down With The Ship”
[Video: Todd Rundgren – Topic]
[H/T Brooklyn Vegan]
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