Boston ska-punk band Big D and the Kids Table play Newspeak on Friday 16 October, touring behind their latest album, The Good Ole American Saturday Night, out since June via SideOneDummy Records. Support comes from Devon Kay & The Solutions.
The Canadian leg also stops in Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto before the band heads into the US midwest. Two Halloween-themed shows close out the run in late October: Asbury Park, New Jersey’s Wonder Bar on 23 October and Boston’s Paradise Rock Club on 24 October, both adding The Pietasters to the bill alongside Devon Kay & The Solutions. An earlier North American tour run with Matamoska covered the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic through August and September.
The album is produced by Joe Gittleman of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Matt Appleton of Reel Big Fish, and arrives more than 30 years into the band’s run. It draws from across their catalogue, from the punk urgency of Good Luck to the reggae influences of Strictly Rude.
Ahead of the album, the band released the single Scatterbrain in May along with an animated video, following earlier singles Whiplash and Right Now. Frontman Dave McWane said the song grew out of his own experience with ADHD: “I’m so old school that I had ADHD before they added the ‘H’! When I was in 2nd grade the teachers & school didn’t know what to do with me. Why does he test so high in these subjects, but so low in these & why does he talk so much? So me, with a few other brave mutants, went to a school for kids like us, got tested endlessly and were always marginalized by the system.” He added: “Everyone should start calling it ‘ATC’ — Attention To Creativity. That’s what ‘Scatterbrain’ is about.”
The accompanying animated video, made by Empire Animate, follows the confusion and overstimulation that often come with ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence, landing on a hopeful note built around creativity and self-acceptance.
The Good Ole American Saturday Night was engineered by Matt Appleton at Madoak, Massachusetts, and The Station, Vermont. It’s available digitally and on three vinyl variants: Red & Blue Splatter, a SideOneDummy webstore exclusive, Blue Dream Splash, and Cotton Candy Splash.
Big D and the Kids Table are:
- David McWane – vocals
- Alex Stern – guitar
- Ben Basile – bass
- Alex Brander – drums
- Ryan O’Connor – tenor saxophone
- Logan La Barbera – trombone
- Paul Halpainy – trombone
- Matt Appleton – tenor & baritone saxophone
- Casey Gruttadauria – organ
Photo: Mark Stern
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