The Hippos Self Titled (2003) Review

The Hippos 2003 Release (Buy It here)
If you were living in Southern California, like I was, in the mid-2000s then you loved ska. You had to. Ok, maybe not, but I was growing up in a religious community near Santa Monica, California and we loved our ska. I wanted to be a rude boy so bad. If you rewind to 1997 I saw my first concert, and it was MXPX, The Hippos, and Less Than Jake. The band put on a showcase of ska fused music that I just couldn’t get enough of. They toured the country with the other two bands and they even made it to MTV and radio airplay.

Then things started to change. The band went from ska punk to synthpop and completely disenfranchised their fans. I didn’t like the synth heavy record that came out in 2003, but hey, that’s just what happens. The band didn’t even put this out initially, they waited 3 years to get it out after fans wanted to hear it. That being said, this is not the traditional ska music that you knew from The Hippos.

This time around the band uses synth all over the place, and while they are still catchy and interesting, this is NOT ska music. It’s such a jump from their 1999 release, “Heads Will Roll”, that you are left wondering what happened.

At the end of the day, The Hippos “Self Titled” 2003 record is good at best. I’m not a huge fan, but I like some of the tracks on the record, as it still has the drum section and a few trumpets here and there.

You can listen to The Hippos and pick up their record by clicking here.

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