Description
Operation Ivy – “Energy” LP
The ska-punk band from Berkeley, California, who existed for just a couple of years in the late 1980s, at a time when the Bay Area was awash with a wave of fresh new upstarts – fellow Gilman Street regulars like Isocracy, Neurosis, Fifteen etc. The one and only album by Operation Ivy (released in 1989 through Lookout! Records) went on, for better or worse, to be massively influential. And too be fair to them, when it comes to ska-punk, they did it first, and they probably also did it best. So many of the bands that followed in their wake tended to adopt a lightweight, cartoon silliness, whereas this is album is a collection of nineteen songs burning with defiant rage and raw, DIY punk attitude. As much about Christ On Parade and MDC as they were the Clash and Specials. Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman went on to form Rancid of course; while vocalist Jesse Michaels formed Common Rider, while drummer Dave Mello started up Schlong.
