I witnessed a ska pool party
Ah, Goo Lagoon (Bad Operation's pool party). A stinky mud puddle (ska pool show) to you and me.
Ah, Goo Lagoon (Bad Operation). A stinky mud puddle (ska band) to you and me. But to the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom (New Orleans), a wonderful, stinky mud puddle (ska band).
Few genres soundtrack a pool party better than ska. It’s not too heavy. It pulls in the chill, Caribbean vibes of Jamaican music. And it’s just fun, dance music. So when I heard Bad Operation was going to throw a pool show, I figured I had to check it out.
The show was supposed to happen in June but because of COVID, it had to be scheduled for July. I almost thought it would get canceled again because daily thunderstorms typify July in New Orleans and ya know, water and electricity make a bad combo. But why not throw a rock by a large body of water?
I planned to go with my friend but was ditched because they needed some “rest” and were feeling “burnout” and “sick.” Like swimming in a small pool surrounded by crowds of drunk people will do anything but rejuvenate the body and spirit? But it’s fine. I don’t mind being alone. He said maybe you could try meeting someone. I said I would never. And so I confidently went to a pool show alone and spoke to almost no one for five hours.
I’m terrible at talking to strangers. I have to have a purpose to talk to someone or else I feel super anxious. The only people I really knew were in the bands, which I guess is the perk of being a music writer. At the very least, you are sometimes known by the coolest people at any given event. But I am very uncool, obviously. So instead of trying to face my fears and better myself as a person, I figured why not just sit in frozé-tinged pool water and enjoy the music.
The stage was nowhere near the pool. You could still see it from the pool but it wasn’t like one bad cannonball away from blowing out someone’s amp or something. The show was at the Drifter, a sketchy highway-side motel turned slightly less sketchy topless-optional pool bar. I sat in the pool for two hours drinking cheap beer, enjoying the boozy water and picturesque sky complete with palm trees, disco ball and two massive billboards for car accident attorneys (a common sight in the state with the worst roads in the country). And to really complete the Ska-tmosphere, somebody in one of the rooms bought free pizza for everyone.
The first band to play was Bad Operation’s vocalist Dominic Minix and his solo project band. They reminded me of BADBADNOTGOOD because that's the only alt-jazz touchstone I know. They’re soft, slow with crooning horns and funky rhythms that remind me of old-school police procedural music like in LA Noir or something. This is Minix’s heart music. I think he cares about the ideas and community Ska creates but he’s got the soul of a poet who finds his expression in ways not limited by genre. Side note: He just put out an album this year called “Swim” which is very appropriate for the occasion.
By the time their set was over, my body had sufficiently pruned. So I got out and dried off a bit but still had the awkward feeling of being at a show in swim trunks and flip-flops. I’m not bold enough to walk around shirtless so putting that on gave me the sliver of confidence I needed to stay out of the water.
Delores Galore was next. She’s one of those New Orleans artists I know from osmosis, even though I’ve never seen her live. Her music is like if MC Hammer met Charli XCX at a goth bar and they then proceeded to make out on a Tron arcade game. Idk. Veronika Lee explains her music much better than I do in a few places, especially in this story. I couldn’t help but feel like her music would be best experienced in a dimly lit club with crazy lasers but I was glad I finally saw her perform. She even threw a little ska track at the end of her set to mark the occasion.
Most of these artists signed to a local label called Community Record, making this a showcase for them of sorts. But it’s also a reminder of the cultural and musical diversity that makes up the New Orleans underground. Like the next performer for instance, whose bubbly personality and larger-than-life voice make them a powder keg act just waiting to blow.
That artist is LeTrainiump!, a hip-hop artist whose aesthetic/music I would best describe as watching Rocket Power on VHS while eating Taco Bell and listening to funk. I’ve seen him perform with the NOLA music collective glbl wmrng a few times but never solo, but I gotta say, I wasn’t surprised with what I saw. LeTrainiump! brings energy and glow to any stage but a pool party is perfect for him. He practically always wears beach clothes and Doc Martens. I was hoping to see him dive in the pool with those shoes on but it will have to remain in my imagination.
Speaking of, I was a little disappointed no one dove into the pool after a set. I feel that’s the first thing you imagine happening at a pool show. But this is a respectable crew of ska nerds and hipster weirdos, leading me to Bad Operation who are exactly those people.
They’re kind of an all-star band in the indie underground. Vocalist Dominic Minix I already talked a little bit about. Still, he’s a long-standing figure in the NOLA scene cutting his teeth with jazz artists Marsalis Family, Christian Scott (Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah) and even Solange. Keys player and trombonist Daniel “D-Ray” Ray and bassist Greg Rodrigue are cofounders of Community Records.
D-Ray and Rodrigue also run a local coffee company called Hey Coffee and were leaders of a now-defunct NOLA-ska band called Fatter Than Albert (there’s a lot more I can say about these two but that sums it up for now). Robert Landry, aka Bobby Gumbo, contributes to various projects on Community Records like All People and The Rooks. And finally, Brian Pretus who is big in the punk underground thanks to his band PEARS.
So essentially, they are infinitely cool people doing lots in the community but also huge music nerds with big ideas. They’ve helped introduce ideas and language that have defined the new wave of ska such as the term “new tone,” a play on words with the second wave ska term “2-tone.” Compared to their immediate ska neighbors and labelmates, Joystick, I think of Bad Operation as the serious older brother.
I think their cleverness and political messaging directly result from Minix’s writing. It’s in tune with ska history as a progressive, anti-racist genre which they embrace in their live performance, injecting anti-capitalist rants or pro-abortion messaging in between their songs. But they’re still a ska band, so there’s always a little goofing like the “Reefers” sound bite that they’ll spam.
Watching Bad Operation play reminds me what ska is all about. It’s a joyful celebration in defiance of all those issues. And as folks skank barefoot in bikinis and swim shorts, I can’t help but smile. It’s a nice escape but broken when topics like women’s rights and capitalism are brought up at a pool party.
I’m left wondering if the people just beyond the pool’s fences are making it out alright. Those people living under bridges or in dilapidated shotguns. Those people living paycheck to paycheck trying to make it through yet another recession where they may be forced to bring up a child they can’t afford. Maybe a ska pool party isn’t going to change the world but it’s making it a little more bearable.
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