JER, Bad Operation, Joystick

This New Orleans new tone quintet is anything but your daddy’s ska band. Coining the genre’s most recent revival, Bad Operation rides each referential wave into its own tide of politically focused, distortion-free grooves. On their 2020 self-titled debut, the band effortlessly overcomes the nostalgia pigeonhole in 25 minutes. Opener “Perilous” calmly plunges into feelings of impending doom with laid-back upstrokes and Dominic Minix’s silky blues vocals, while “Peachy” riffs on the contradictions of late-stage capitalism. Fellow New Orleanians Joystick! open the dance floor, and Skatune Network creator Jeremy Hunter headlines as JER. – Kriss Conklin