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SKA DREAM

by Jeff Rosenstock

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1.
Did you learn to make amends with your pile of flaming shit? Gain the patience to deal with total idiots without losing your composure? Oh please, tell me how it is! I didn’t have the time. Did you learn to forge a path towards existing comfortably in a total nightmare concurrent with legal weed? Did you harness the inner fortitude to present gracefully? I didn’t have the time. When you wake, does it feel like you have a purpose? When you wake, does it feel like you had a purpose all along? Exploiting all my deep narcissistic tendencies. Basking in the fruits of my soft complicity Did you turn into a person that you really want to be? I didn’t have the time.
2.
Looking down the barrel of a shitty future, throwing back whatever we can to avoid the dread of what’s been said but there’s just no escaping it. Trying to find the words to explain what it feels like. Buggin’ out like “Wait, did I say something weird? But that is just the price of faking like we’re innocent. Chasing bliss Chasing bliss is only numbing it. Looking for a dream that won’t morph to a nightmare Lying to myself about things that I love Cause I’m distracted by public displays of happiness So I scour the internet for a new pair of Nikes Status symbol shit that I say I’m above Disown control Oh no Oh no I’m fucking full of shit Stinkin’ rich hypocrite No it’s not gonna bring no happiness No it’s not gonna bring no happiness There’s no vacant bliss. There’s no vacant bliss. There’s no vacant bliss. There’s no vacant bliss.
3.
SKrAm! 02:38
I’ve been told for most my life “Wait until the perfect time” By people who have been defined by Skipping spots in line Don’t you wanna go away? Don’t you wanna go away? Don’t you wanna go away? Don’t you wanna scram! I’ve been told for most my life “Try to see the other side” By people who have never tried to See the other side Don’t you wanna go away? Don’t you wanna go away? Don’t you wanna scram? Don’t you wanna hide? Don’t you wanna get away tonight? Don’t you wanna run? Don’t you wanna die? Don’t you wanna get away tonight? Not hearing all your shit Don’t waste my fuckin’ time Don’t you wanna get away tonight? Go kick rocks and die. Everything you say is to make me feel stupid Everything you say is to make me feel bad Everything you say is a distraction, So I’m not listening to – Who needs a preamble? Jeffy Boi, just let me ramble! Whole damn world in shambles! Let the Bad Times Roll™ -The Vandals Brain is feeling scrambled, Homer Simpson in the bramble. Every other scandal got me shakin' my head... (DAAAMN FOOL!) Don't you wanna run? Don't you wanna Go Dumb™? Smack a politician up the backside of their cranium! Throw the racists in a rocket blast they ass into the sun! MEGA GUILLOTINE™ We 'bout to redistribute income! So I’m not listening to you.
4.
They were picking up the bodies on TV when I caught a reflection of you and me staring back at us while frozen on the screen. Crank the white noise and pretend that we’re asleep that we’re asleep dream dream dream dream They were separating families carelessly under the guise of protecting you and me. Jailing innocents, no hope of being free. Crank the white noise and pretend that we’re asleep that we’re asleep dream dream dream They were lining up the unsuspecting teens for a violent moment of celebrity. Golden bullets blessed by lobbyist money Splash a tidal wave of blood into your stream Weaponizing what’s left of your empathy Trapped inside a void that zeroes out the screams It’s not a dream It’s not a dream It’s not a dream It’s not a dream It’s not a dream Not a dream Not a dream It’s not a dream The only framework capitalism can thrive in is dystopia. Fuck all the fakers acting like they’re interested in hearing us when we yell, “Hold accountable the architects of hopelessness and neverending violence!” They’ll be like “whatever, idiot” and fuel their brand of power incorruptible like it exists. Saintly fronts in a system that rewards only the greediest. The only endgame for capitalism is dystopia and we know all about but we just don’t know what to do. What can we do? What can we do? “Nothing more to see here y’all. Good night, start heading for the exits.” FUCK VIOLENCE.
5.
Horn Line 03:17
So long! I’m staying home less than leaving. Anxious more often than lookin alive. Stoned more than feeling. Drunk more than sleeping. Too loud in Sweden, they turned off the lights. Can I take a piece of you swerving through mountains after the night shift? Pull off in traffic and let me outside. Carelessly plant it Sleep mask and wishing, “Turn into something, don’t let it die.” Can I take a piece of you ‘cross the state line like the rhythm steals my body like the summer steals my mind? The feeling that follows you from a past life , when you lose it in a moment can you tell yourself it’s fine? Pictures of toilets across the planet. Stuff this in your pocket and wait in the line trade it for chocolates, cough drops, some weird chips, coffee or something. I don’t have the time. Can I take a piece of you ‘cross the state line like the rhythm steals my body like the summer steals my mind? The feeling that follows you from a past life , when you lose it in a moment can you tell yourself it’s fine it’s fine it’s fine it’s fine?
6.
Did you lose the magic? Did you make it tragic? Did you form a habit? Did you lie about it? Did you know the reasons but ignore the reasons like the dopes believin’ that we kept the seasons? Well, line up to watch it crash and burn. Be a nonconformist Be an aging tourist Hustle like a tortoise Show me where the floor is Latent psychoactive Feeling apparatus Like if you seem alive they won’t know that you’re dead I mean, if you feel alive then you know you’re not dead (uh oh) Line up to watch it crash and burn the fame the fame the fame You don’t even know me You will not control me Go ahead disown me You will not control me You can give the roasting You can have the trophy You can have it all You can have it all You will not control You will not control So leave me the fuck alone.
7.
Don't let me know all the reasons that it probably shouldn't work or let me know all the things I'll never do. Don't go reframing my truth in a context versus you, all aggressive like I got something to prove. If you knew that I think about you every single day, would it make you feel like I'm too much for you? Or would you kinda wanna say, "You don't have to feel that way. I've been trying not to think about you too." Leave it in the sun To melt away Leave it in the sun To melt away Or burn the skin Subconsciously stacked an empty beer can pyramid on a shaky table in a stranger's home. When I hightail out of town, someone else will knock it down because I'm too proud to do it on my own. The hardest part of growing up is letting go.
8.
Sometimes I wanna take the car out on the road, flip it into park and smash myself into a million little pieces. I’m tired of knowing what about myself is wrong but never mustering up the resolve to really try and change it. I walk outside and people say “hey” and sometimes I just wanna say “hey, go away. Go away.” So I guess I better stay inside. I’ve read that if you just sit in a chair and think of focusing your nervous energy on the beauty of breathing you could live a life of real tranquility. But I just thought of every stupid thing that’s been keeping me from sleeping. I close my eyes and it won’t go away. I plug my ears but they’re ringing out, “HEY! HEY!!!! HEYYYYY!!!! HEYYYYYYYY!!!!!” It keeps me from believing that maybe someday the thing will work. Maybe I won’t feel like a jerk. Maybe the words I say will stop coming out weighted. Maybe someday I’ll want to breathe and Maybe the people that I meet won’t lead to a certain future where I’m betrayed and I’m so jaded. & that’s why I’m so fucking sad.
9.
Old SKrAp 03:10
Go back to the old crap To the things you tell yourself you’ve gotten through. But it’s just been a week of Desperately trying not to sweat off the glue ‘Cause the body wants to do things that the body wants to do. It’s a shell coated in candy for the ground that waits for you. Rip your friends off. Write a new song, Call it “Shame” and claim its indelible truths, Play the victim, Be a shithead, Throw the blame at anyone coming for you ‘Cause the brain’s gonna do things that the brain’s gonna do. I’m the worst kind of person And I’m still in love with you. Howzit animosity can just cut right through the fog of a pixelated memory that you figured was long gone and it shapeshifts into guilt that corners you into rights and wrongs ‘cause you told yourself you’re the kind of person who knows how to move on and the only way to trick yourself into not feeling insane are the negative impulses that you struggle to restrain? You know that nothing’s real but you sink your hooks into mistakes anyway and you’re paralyzed by the how’s and why’s because people never change. You can call it angst but I ain’t seen proof That the world ain’t fucked And we ain’t just doomed to the truth. I’m still gonna do all of the things I want to do But the truth at the moment is I’m tired of the truth. Yeah, I’m tired and I’m through.
10.
***SKA 02:30
Sam, Your mom has secretly been renting out your home. I used the shower sponge when you went to Spain alone. She told us it’s been rough and you deserved a break and marrying that guy, obviously was a mistake - you had a couple kids but now he’s always gone and you’re stuck sweeping hair at your mommy’s hair salon. The flat you have upstairs, tucked in the suburbs safe, is running low on bread and other amenities ‘cause your mom’s been secretly renting your place. Al, Your elevator looked in hella disrepair but I’m not fuckin’ with a dozen flights of stairs. I tenderized my legs somewhere in Germany trying to convince the bored to pay attention to me. The absinthe that we drank? I’m not sure it was real. Massage place in the building? We know what‘s the fuckin’ deal ‘cause fratboys wait outside, pretending their not there, avert their glassy eyes, but I don’t really care. I don’t wanna lay in bed and stare at the ceiling While chasing the fleeting There’s too much in my head to sleep And I did the thing that movie said, “Foot on the floor beside the bed” Still too much in my head to sleep tonight. Get fucked up, break your stupid bones again. Get fucked up, lose your telephone again. Get fucked up, bother all your friends again. Get fucked up, shame your broken heart again. I really gotta leave, but I just wanna stay. I’m only a real person for a quarter-dozen days until I gotta scram, until I go away and turn into a person that I didn’t want to be - cultivating mold on my laundry and becoming so afraid I’m honestly placing bets on a chemical crapshoot with my brain. Cleaning for the dealer so I’ll black out on the plane. Mumbling in the dark and living vicariously Through a photo album in a stranger’s BNB.
11.
If the weather stays as good or better I might wake up early and escape If the terror of our end together Can sit still enough to wake up late I don't know if it will take Four hours there and back by train I don't know if the whole wide world is Gonna end while I'm away I don't know if I Deserve to go But it's a Monday at the beach Monday at the beach Monday at the beach Monday at the beach If the weather Can keep it together
12.
Early afternoon at the souvenir shoppe, bought a funny ashtray for a couple bucks and we ate pizza under the moonlight (or we ate french fries? under the moonlight.) “Why would any hotel have a bearskin rug? Why would they assume I’m cool with where it’s from?” I murmur to you soaking in the sky. Soon enough it can’t get any darker, we’ll toss and turn once it starts getting hotter. You could give me an ultimatum with a loaded gun, I still can’t tell you what day of the week we’re on. Some days I blink and suddenly it’s night and I broke my promise - didn’t go outside. Dust collects the second that you wipe it off. Too late to vacuum but not too late to toss the roaches I discarded late at night that piled up in the ashtray over time. It feels indicative of a disaster A manifestation of ambitions shattered And I’ll lean into it, keep getting sadder, It doesn’t mean that it really matters. It doesn’t mean that it really matters. Yeah honestly, it doesn’t even matter. Everything’s not just a fucking omen. Under the blanket in our messy home let’s remind each other what we’re doing right ‘cause seek for cracks and surely we will find. Yeah, seek for cracks and surely ye will find don’t seek for cracks when everything is fine. Checkerboard ashtray!
13.
Ohio Porkpie 06:01
Ohio Turnpike Another hour or two Counting the dashed lines Bringing me back to you. Another short night And our summer is through So pick a good song To usher you through the gloom. When I see your face after the flight home I know I’m not alone When you call my name through the modern snow I know I’m not alone I ditched the rental Grabbed the receipts off the dash Threw out the baggie Of coffee grounds and ash I’ll let you go now That’s all I’ve got to report. Sorry I didn’t get Better at being short. When I see your face after the flight home I know I’m not alone Can you call my name through the modern snow Because I don’t want to feel alone. No I don’t want to feel alone. Prepare for the landing and Prepare to be vaguely accused By the sad and underslept In their royal blues Pettin’ the window, cuz I wanna know what it’d feel like If I got to go outside. And at the bag claim With eyes peeled for tatters of tags Flying half-mast like the flag. And through the families We wade in a quest for a cab Nobody wishes for the things That they already have. We relive every misstep that we’ve made in our lives And hoard our scary secrets til they wake us at night And we think we can’t escape from it But maybe we might If we try to just acknowledge we can do anything right. You know You’re the only person that I wanted to like me You’re the only person that I wanted to like me All these other motherfucking dipshits can bite me You’re the only person that I wanted to like me. I miss coming home to you. I've been driving day and night, counting mile marker lines on my way to you I miss coming home to you. I've been turning like a pike and I'm searching for the light on my way to you I miss coming home to you. I've been driving day and night, counting mile marker lines on my way to you I hate coming home. I hate leaving home.

about

SKA DREAM is a complete re-recording of Jeff Rosenstock’s critically-acclaimed 2020 record NO DREAM however this time around all the songs are ska songs you’re welcome. The very good idea to make this record came together when, like many other bands throughout this pandemic that refused to participate in super spreading events, we were trying to find a fun way to make some music together to share with people. Otherwise we were just spending our evenings texting the group chat in dread about the collapsing world around us. Not the most fun band activity.

As with most things ska in my life, what started out as a fun goof with friends eventually morphed into “Hey, what if we tried to make it good though?” All of us have a pretty deep history playing and touring the country in punk/ska bands. We all understand the stigma that comes along with ska, we’ve all dealt with the pitfalls of it, and we’ve all kept on truckin’ regardless. If you are one of those people who loves music as long as it isn’t ska, that’s cool, we see you. This record isn’t for you and you don’t have to listen to it. Byeeee.

Okay, everyone else, we see you too, we love you and check it out, SKA DREAM is real.

credits

released April 20, 2021

JOHN DEDOMENICI - BASS
KEVIN HIGUCHI - DRUMS, PERCUSSION
MIKE HUGUENOR - GUITAR
JER HUNTER - TROMBONE, TRUMPET
RICK JOHNSON - HAMMOND, FARFISA, CASIO CZ101
CHRISTINE MACKIE - BELLS
DAN POTTHAST - ACOUSTIC GUITAR, PIANO, VOCALS
JEFF ROSENSTOCK - VOCALS, GUITAR, TENOR & BARI SAX, FARFISA, JUNO 106, MOOG PRODIGY, LYRA, WURLITZER, BELLS, SPACE ECHO
LAURA STEVENSON - VOCALS


ARA BABAJIAN - ADDITIONAL CYMBALS ON 6
SEAN BONNETTE - VOCALS ON 13
BOBOSO - SICK BARS ON 3
GEORGE CLARKE - VOCALS ON 4
DAVID COMBS - VOCALS ON 3
CHRIS FARREN - GUITAR & VOCALS ON 7
AUGUSTA KOCH - VOCALS ON 2 & 4
ANGELO MOORE - SAX SOLO ON 6
FRANZ NICOLAY - LUXURIOUS PIANO ON 6
nonregla - ADDITIONAL COOL DUB SHIT ON 5
ELISE OKUSAMI - VOCALS ON 3 & 7
MIKE PARK - TENOR SAX ON 8
PUP - VOCALS ON 10 & 13
ANIKA PYLE - VOCALS ON 2 & 13
SHANNON TOOMBES - VOCALS ON 2, 7 & 9

DRUMS RECORDED BY MATT EMBREE AT GNARWALL IN LONG BEACH, CA
MIKE’S GUITAR RECORDED BY RYAN PERRAS AT DISTRICT RECORDERS IN SAN JOSE, CA
THE REST OF OUR PARTS WERE RECORDED AT HOME

MIXED & MASTERED BY 2019 GRAMMY NOMINEE JACK “METAL GUY” SHIRLEY

ILLUSTRATIONS BY BEN LEVIN
DESIGN JUNK BY JEFF ROSENSTOCK
Songs by Jeff Rosenstock. Skarranged by Death Rosenstock.

“NO TIME TO SKANK” contains a very short tribute to “Our Time” by The Suicide Machines. “Leave It In The Ska” contains a snippet of “Nite Klub” by The Specials.

For The Bosstones, The Specials, Operation Ivy, The Selecter, Marcia Griffiths, Toots and the Maytals, Suicide Machines, Jimmy Cliff, MU330, Mike Park/The Chinkees/Skankin Pickle, Kemuri, Slow Gherkin, Sister Nancy, Big D and the Kids Table, Mustard Plug, The Slackers, Kicked In The Head, The Fad, SKASUCKS, Too Short Notice, Less Than Jake, We Are The Union, Rancid sometimes, Bad Operation, Catbite, Fatter Than Albert, Planet Smashers, Westbound Train, Catch-22, Streetlight, Voodoo Glow Skulls, The Pietasters, Rx Bandits, Against All Authority, Assorted Jellybeans, Sublime, Bodysnatchers, Symarip, Gregory Isaacs, Alpha Blondy, Reel Big Fish, Mr. Bungle if I’m being honest, Fishbone, NOFX sometimes, Animal Chin, The Siren Six, Channel 59, Edna’s Goldfish, Step Lively, Mad Caddies, Arty’s Taxi, Premarital Sax,Sprout, High School Football Heroes, Nicotine, No Doubt, Jackmove, The Know How, Bum Ruckus, Culture, The Clash, The Aggrolites, and every other ska band that I forgot to listen. THANKS FOR THE TUNES AND/OR GOOD TIMES.

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Jeff Rosenstock New York

Hello. I'm Jeff Rosenstock. In 2007 I started a free/donation-based digital label called Quote Unquote Records. I also used to be in the band Bomb the Music Industry! and then that band stopped. Now I just do this stuff. Hope you like it!

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