California ska-punk band Mad Caddies drop a new record this week, announce several local shows
After entertaining the crowds at the reggae-driven Cali Vibes festival in Long Beach back in February, ska and punk rock veterans Mad Caddies are set to return to the area on tour in May with a whole lot of brand new songs to perform.
“I’m feeling really good about where we’re at. We just can’t stop smiling and it’s contagious and everyone sees it. Our whole mission statement is we came here to throw a dance party,” said Chuck Robertson, guitarist-vocalist and founding member of the Solvang-born band.
The six piece band, which formed in 1995, have several local shows scheduled in the coming months. They’re heading out on tour in support of the new album, “Arrows Room 117,” which comes out on Friday, March 15.
The tour will bring them to the Echoplex in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 2, then to the Holding Company in San Diego on Saturday, May 18. They’ll also spearhead the 1st Annual Caddielina Wine Mixer at House of Blues Anaheim on Sunday, May 19 alongside The Sidekicks, Chase Long Beach, La Pobreska, 8 Kalacas and more. Mad Caddies are playing a date on the Punk in Drublic Festival in San Pedro, scheduled for Friday, Oct. 4-Sunday, Oct. 6, but the daily schedules have yet to be released. The fest will serve as Los Angeles-based punk band NOFX’s final shows ever.
“We’re going to play a little bit of everything. We do our old-school songs, new songs off the new records. It’s a good time,” Robertson said of the tour.
In its nearly 30-year history, the band has released seven full-length albums, one live album, two EPs and sold more than 500,000 albums total.
“It’s surreal. You look back and think it’s been 30 years and it’s pretty neat to look back and think we’re still doing it. We’ve matured on an organic path. We started off real manic with the hard ska and punk, angry at the world teenage angst, the standard California punk rock vibe,” he said.
“But then we got more into different styles of music, bringing in reggae, Dixieland jazz and rock and some world music aspects. We never wanted to make the same record twice,” Robertson added.
He describes the new album, which is the first since the band’s 2018 release “Punk Rocksteady,” as showcasing pain, love, loss and “the bright light of new beginnings,” with the recognizable Mad Caddies mix of reggae, rock, ska and this time, a little bit of country, too.
“It’s definitely the most personal for me,” he said. “The story of the album is kind of me and my travels through California to see my son up in Lake Tahoe who is about to turn nine.”
The title track was written in room 117 of the motel he stays at when he goes to see his son. But the it’s more about small town drama and gossip rather than his son.
“We come from a small town, Solvang, and I’m still living there. And people in small towns, they talk,” Robertson said.
He also pays homage to his girlfriend in the single “Green Eyes,” a reggae love song sparked by their travels. The catchy groovy cut features accordion by Brian Mann, who has been on records by Oingo Boingo, Kenny Loggins and David Lee Roth.
“What can I say, she’s beautiful and she has green eyes,” he said with a laugh. She was sitting next to him in the car during a phone interview.
The band explores the country music genre with the single “Baby,” which starts off with a very country rock vibe as horns kick in.
“I feel like there’s this old school, Elvis ’70s, vibe to it,” he said. “I listen to everything, country and reggae and rock and indie, folk, hip-hop. So I can’t tell you exactly where that song came from. It’s just kind of a honky tonk, we were just riffing in the studio and we were like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool, let’s do that.’”
The band’s other love song is to their home state of California titled “Palm Trees and Pines.”
“It’s the quintessential California song. We know what our state is and how beautiful it is, but other people in the world think California is just L.A. and San Francisco. But no, we have the palm trees and pines, we got the beautiful forest, the lakes, the rivers, the deserts, we have it all,” he said.
While they’re looking forward to their upcoming show dates, Robertson said the band is still riding high from its set at Cali Vibes, though they were a little worried before hitting the stage.
“It went really well and I was really surprised because we went on at one o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday and I was thinking no one was going to be there,” he recalled. “But it was a really good crowd and everyone was really super cool and my girlfriend and I had a great time watching the other bands.”
Mad Caddies
With: Bad Cop/Bad Cop, La Pobreska and Shock Therapy
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2
Where: Echoplex, 1154 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles
Tickets: $35.25 at LiveNation.com
Also: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18 at Holding Company, 5046 Newport Ave., San Diego. $30 at the door; $25 in advance at theholdingcompanyob.com. The 1st Annual Caddielina Wine Mixer at 5 p.m. Sunday, May 19 at House of Blues Anaheim, 400 Disney Way, Anaheim, with The Sidekicks, Chase Long Beach, La Pobreska, 8 Kalacas, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Urethane and Taken Days. $13 at LiveNation.com.
Punk in Drublic Festival at Berth 46, 3011 Miner Street, San Pedro on Friday, Oct. 4-Sunday, Oct. 6 with MXPX, Bouncing Souls, Buzzcocks and more. $125 single-day general admission (Friday or Saturday); $249 single-day VIP admission (Friday or Saturday); $225 general admission (Sunday); $325 VIP admission (Sunday). $350 weekend (three-day) general admission; $750 weekend VIP; $999 Bro Package VIP passes (Friday and Saturday only). All passes are available at punkindrublicfest.com/losangeles.