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I’ve seen the name Tri-State Conspiracy popping up all over the place but never seen them live or heard their music until now. The band has a ska & swing sound and their music on this album is really sharp! The band formed around 2001 and have played all over the place (especially tri-state area – duh). “High Strung Mess” was released in October sooooo i’m just a little behind in reviewing this one. But since these guys released a good ska album, might as well give the band some acknowledgment.

The first song is called “Attitude” and it’s a swingy ska-ish ditty (yes I said ditty). “Why don’t you change your fucking attitude” is part of the lyrics and I like the ring to that. What I like what this band is how they have that 1990’s ska feeling to them and that’s a good thing in my mind. That’s when I got into ska and think the bands sounded awesome then. These guys have that 90s ska sound as well (before every ska band turned into an emo indie band). Each song is unique in it’s own way and it doesn’t feel like filler to me. Members of the band aren’t afraid to break out into solos, and when they do it isn’t annoying. The vocals sound fine and his style fits both the fast & slow songs. I’m really curious to hear how these songs sound live because they sound pretty damn good on the album. Of course you all know that ska music sounds even better in person, so I got to get my ass to one of their shows in Poughkeepsie, NY. I was expecting this CD to be some boring instrumental ska CD and came out totally surprised. This is definitely worth checking out or buying without even hearing the songs. Or if you don’t want be daring, listen to their music on their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/tristateconspiracy

Bottom Line: Very good swingy ska band from NYC! Check them out in a venue near you.
Notable Tracks: Attitude, High Strung Mess, Hell To Pay, Someday, Empty Space
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