The era of ska shame is officially over, and ska fans no longer need to hide in the basement, skanking alone.

 The creator of the popular podcast In Defense of Ska has doubled down on defending the checkered flag genre with his new edition of In Defense of Ska: Ska Now More Than Ever. The original version was chosen by Pitchfork as one of the best music books of 2021, and was an official recommended read in Rolling Stone’s June 2021 issue. In this expanded version, author Aaron Carnes weaves in tons of new interviews and stories, continuing his crusade to rebuff pop culture’s dismissal of American ska as nothing more than porkpie hats and silly lyrics.

Updated journalistic essays, personal stories, historical investigations, and a brand-new epilogue exploring ska’s “lost years” serve as a much-needed crash course on the hundreds of bands, big or small, that formed the passionate community that continues to love and evolve America’s much-maligned and infamously underrated ska scene.

Join the movement today and discover why ska is a cultural force that can’t be ignored!

PRAISE FOR IN DEFENSE OF SKA

One of the top picks for Pitchfork’s “11 Best Music Books of 2021.”

"Aaron Carnes mixes reporting and memoir-esque essays in this deep dive, bringing new meaning to the underground legends like Operation Ivy."

 —Rolling Stone

“Third-wave ska in general is an unfairly maligned genre…this is a point Aaron Carnes makes in his new book, In Defense of Ska, which is an excellent read.” -

—Esquire (Dave Holmes) 

“In Defense of Ska does what it says on the tin. It champions not just the critically acclaimed, punk-adjacent two-tone bands of the late '70s and '80s, or the pioneering Jamaican bands from the '60s. In Defense of Ska offers a full-throated defense of ska's third wave. That means Reel Big Fish, Operation Ivy, Fishbone, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and more.”

—NPR (Cannonball/Bullseye w/ Jesse Thorn)

“Aaron with this new book has put together an impressive assembly of bits of history of the genre, various opinions about the genre, its formation, its fall from grace in a way, and where it can go from here.”

—Anthony Fantano (The Needle Drop) 

“Lately, the whole ska narrative is changing. The author Aaron Carnes wrote In Defense of Ska, an intelligent look at the much-maligned genre and its various ‘waves,’ from 1960s Jamaica to today.”

—GQ (Jason Diamond)

AARON CARNES is a music journalist based out of Sacramento, California. His work has appeared in Playboy, Salon, Bandcamp Daily, Sierra Club, Noisey, Sun Magazine, and Good Times. His book In Defense of Ska was an indie hit with strong grassroots swell without distribution. He is the host of the popular "In Defense of Ska” podcast. Guests have included Margaret Cho, Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy), John Darnielle (Mountain Goats), and Laura Jane Grace (Against Me).

OFFICIAL RELEASE 10.29.24

ISBN: 9781955904711