The nineties were a dope decade for music. We had alternative rock, Boy Bands, country, grunge, the British stuff like Oasis, rap (West Coast, East Coast, Dirty South), electronic, and ska punk.
There was definitely something for everyone. For me, I listened to a little bit of everything except for BLANK. Naw, I’d better not admit to the one genre that I don’t care for.
But the one genre I want to talk about is all the ska and punk bands I religiously listened to in the late nineties. Bands like Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, Goldfinger, Bad Religion, Social Distortion, Mustard Plug, and many, many more.
My high school years in the late nineties were probably the first time I really started paying attention to music, especially ska and punk.
Green Day’s Dookie and The Offspring’s Smash were probably my gateway drugs to punk in junior high, and then fast forward to when I discovered Operation Ivy. I know I can’t skim over the fact that I just said I attended a junior high instead of middle school.
From Operation Ivy To Rancid
In case you don’t know, Operation Ivy was a ska-punk band from Berkeley, California. Lead vocalist Jesse Michaels, guitarist Tim Armstrong, bassist Matt Freeman, and drummer Dave Mello formed Operation Ivy in 1987 and disbanded two years later in 1989. They released their punk classic studio album, Energy, the same year they broke up on Lookout Records.
Operation Ivy is also my favorite of all those bands I listened to.
After Operation Ivy split up, Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman formed another ska punk goliath band, Rancid, in 1991. Rancid is definitely dope, but I always preferred Operation Ivy.
In fact, my buddy and I bantered about who was better while driving around our hometown in high school, listening to both on my Sony Discman and CD adaptor in my crappy Chevrolet sedan. He was Team Rancid, and I was, of course, Team Operation Ivy. A great compromise was listening to Rancid’s song about Operation Ivy, “Journey to the End of East Bay” from their …And Out Come the Wolves 1995 album.
Both Operation Ivy and Rancid are well documented on The Google.
From Operation Ivy To Rancid To Doom Regulator
I don’t really recall where I first heard about punk supergroup Doom Regulator. Maybe it was from a Jesse Michaels YouTube interview, or maybe it was from something on Instagram. Who knows. Both are plausible.
The Doom Regulator project reunited Jesse Michaels (vocals), Tim Armstrong (guitar/vocals), Joey Castillo of Circle Jerks (drums), and Spencer Pollard of Trash Talk (bass).
They originally formed in 2023 as Bad Optix. They changed their name to Doom Regulator after learning another band already played as Bad Optix.
I kind of like Doom Regulator better than Bad Optix anyway.
So far, they (Doom Regulator) have released two songs that are ska punk AF. Their first single, “Raid,” came out the same year they formed.
The other was earlier this year. They (Doom Regulator) were featured on the Cover Your Face tribute album with a cover of Fishbone’s “Simon Says the Kingpin”.
According to The Google, they (Doom Regulator) have recorded a full length debut album and plan to tour America with The Interrupters in 2027.
In Conclusion
I’m really digging Jesse and Tim in Doom Regulator.
We haven’t gotten much music from them (Doom Regulator) yet, but I’ve really enjoyed “Raid” and “Simon Says the Kingpin”. Both deliver the same Operation Ivy Energy as from the late 80s.
I eagerly await their (Doom Regulator) album to drop. I can’t wait to “pick it up” whenever that is. If it’s anything like “Raid” and “Simon Says the Kingpin,” it’ll be a banger.
What do you think of their two ska punk songs? Bangers or flops. Let me know. The songs are bangers for me.
<END>
Find me on Instagram or Threads: @stormstrouper