Ska as a genre has seen many iterations, from the first wave of Jamican ska bands in the 1960’s, to the English Two-Tone movement of the late 1970’s to the Third Wave in the 1990’s. Since then there have been a lot of successful bands who have put their own spin on these classic sounds. Which brings us to Mississippi’s Flying Raccoon Suit who take a mix of Jazz, Metal, Indie Rock, and Progressive Rock and stir in a frenzied punk ethos to create their own unique interpretation of the already diverse genre.
As evident on this year’s Static Home EP, a two tracked single, they are not afraid to experiment with their sound. With this single we are presented with two widely varied sounds, the first being the titular “Static Home” which gives the impression of a smokey Jazz club performance but with a rock edge. It gives the guitars and drums a little more weight which is counterbalanced with a silky smooth horn section. This allows Jessica’s vocals the chance to be more refined, but not without completely abandoning her punk side. This is followed by “Nothing’s Changed” which give us the large full horn section and upstroked guitars we would expect from classic third wave ska punk. However there is a frenetic time change instrumental breakdown in the latter half of the song that makes this song stand out and will keep the listener intensely engaged. Don’t simply take my word for it, check out the stream here.