With an additional 30,000 words of compelling stories, research, and analysis, music journalist and ‘In Defense of Ska’ podcast creator/host Aaron Carnes presents the case that ska never died, by jumping headfirst into ska’s “lost years,” i.e., the period after the ’90s third-wave ska boom.

New topics covered include LA’s ongoing vibrant traditional ska scene and how young Latinos are keeping the ska torch aflame, how the devastation of Hurricane Katrina inadvertently kicked off a thriving scene focused on keeping

community alive in New Orleans, a deep review of Christian ska group Five Iron Frenzy, who broke a Kickstarter record in the ’10s while making progressive activists out of their fan base, a close inspection of a hipster rocksteady scene in Brooklyn that grew so popular it nearly kicked off a nationwide revival, and more secret ska past revelations with none other than Fall Out Boy lead singer Patrick Stump—who has a story that, up until recently, was carefully guarded.

Plus, the book reexplores several bands featured in the first edition, revealing new layers and more details about all the bands fans love, like Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Operation Ivy, the Slackers, Hepcat, Mephiskapheles, and Reel Big Fish. With 30,000 additional words, this is the complete ska package.

The combined force of the ‘In Defense of Ska’ podcast and the Expanded 2^nd Edition makes a strong case that ska was not a trend but a way of life.

This expanded, 2^nd edition comes as Aaron’s podcast In Defense of Ska enters its fourth year, now a part of the Consequence Podcast Network. Proving that ska is as vital as any other genre, the over 150 episodes in the In Defense of Ska archives have featured guests like Fred Armisen, Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, The Police’s Stewart Copeland,

Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Joe Gittleman, Margaret Cho, Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis, Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon, and more.

PRAISE FOR IN DEFENSE OF SKA

One of Pitchfork’s 11 Best Music Books of 2021

Recommended book in Rolling Stones June 2021 Issue

"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