Montreal’s long-running ska-punk outfit The Planet Smashers have unveiled “Things You Do,” the second single from their upcoming album On the Dancefloor, set for release August 22 via Stomp Records. The track arrives today alongside a video, offering a brisk two-and-a-half-minute shot of brass, bounce, and dry humour.
Founded in 1994, The Planet Smashers have been a fixture in Canada’s alternative music scene for three decades, riding out ska’s shifting fortunes without abandoning their two-tone core. Over the years, the band has toured extensively across North America, Europe, and Japan, while racking up more than 30 million streams. Frontman Matt Collyer also co-founded Stomp Records, a Montreal-based label that’s helped launch and sustain numerous Canadian punk and alternative acts.
“Things You Do” leans into the band’s strengths: a walking bassline, sharp horn stabs, and guitar upstrokes that keep the rhythm moving. It’s compact and unpretentious, designed for the live stage where The Planet Smashers have long excelled. Like much of On the Dancefloor, it channels the sweaty, good-natured chaos of their concerts, where audience participation isn’t so much encouraged as inevitable.
Watch the video below:
The forthcoming album marks the band’s tenth full-length release and one of their most collaborative efforts to date. Alongside the core lineup, it features guest appearances from ska mainstays Neville Staple of The Specials and Charley “Aitch” Bembridge of The Selecter, as well as Montreal’s own Sara Johnston of Bran Van 3000. Across 13 tracks, the record moves between romantic numbers, pointed social commentary, and unabashed party starters, all underpinned by the band’s trademark blend of humour and grit.
For Montreal’s music community, The Planet Smashers’ endurance is notable. Few local acts from the ’90s ska wave are still active—let alone releasing new work that draws in both long-time fans and new listeners. With “Things You Do,” they’re not reinventing themselves so much as doubling down on what’s kept them relevant: tight musicianship, playful energy, and a refusal to treat ska as anything other than music for movement.
On the Dancefloor will be available August 22 on Stomp Records.
Photo Credit: Michael Crusty
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