In Defense of Ska Ep 60: Rory Phillips (The Impossibles, The Stereo)

In the 90s, there were hundreds of lesser-known ska bands that were amazing. Many of them were better than the bands getting radio and MTV play. On today's episode, we present one of them: The Impossibles from Austin, Texas. A band that seamlessly melded Op Ivy verses with Weezer choruses.

Our guest today is Impossibles vocalist/guitarist Rory Phillips. We dig deep into the group's short time in Austin, where Gals Panic were local legends, and DIY spaces like Eco Action Warehouse hosted punk shows. We talk about the group signing to Fueled By Ramen, touring with MU330, and having a cameo in a shelved Goldfinger video.

We also talk about Rory's recent collaborations with Barry Johnson of Joyce Manor and his post-Impossibles power-pop band The Stereo that he did with Jamie Woolford of Animal Chin. The Stereo was a group that influenced Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, Jeff Rosenstock, and New Found Glory, and whose album Three Hundred was named one of the most influential records of 1999 by Alt-Press. Yet, few people remember the band. Fortunately, Rory made a 5-part podcast telling the group's story. It's called "Kings of No Hope," and it's available to download right now. 

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon! 

If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music. 

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024. 

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023. 

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.