In Defense of Ska Ep 93: Stop The Presses (Ali Culotta, Danny Portilla, Karole Alexander)

New York's Stop The Presses were all set to hit the road hard in March 2020. The day they scheduled to leave, New York went into lockdown. So instead, they hunkered down and made an excellent pandemic record, Got It, released on September 29 on Jump Up Records. The group showcases their uniquely dreamy and washy ska-pop sound, rooted in an aesthetic that takes its vibe from the 1960s-1980s, in all its reverb and space echo-y goodness.

On today's episode, we interview three members of Stop The Presses, and get deep into their history, first starting in the primarily Spanish-speaking town of Hialeah, Florida in 2010 to their elaborate Halloween-themed shows (One year it evolved into a complete theatrical production called "It's Pronounced Nuclear") to relocating to New York in 2015. Once in the Big Apple, they locked in a new lineup and started working with Agent Jay of The Slackers to produce Money In The Bank (2019) and Got It (2022)

We also discuss their three separate RVs, the Cuban roots of The Skatalites, the touring game that gave them their new album cover, and we break down their fantastic cover of Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl" (Complete with a Dolly Parton "9 to 5" introduction) 

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.