by Jo-Ann GreeneWhy do Reel Big Fish rock so hard? Because they can, of course. Back when these fish were mere smelts, they had swum along a very different circuit than that of the ska scene, paying the bills with their cover band, professionally and proficiently reeling out sets of hard rock and glam faves. Until, that is, original RBF Ben Guzman turned them on to ska. The rest is history. But now with Why Do They Rock So Hard?, RBF swim up their old stream to spawn a new set of kick-ass rock, fueled by kicking syncopated beats. Few reggae fans have bothered to wonder just why it was rock made such a small impression on Jamaica. Every producer on the island deluged the market with floods of pop covers, but rock numbers were universally ignored. What would have happened if, say, the Supersonics were unleashed on classic rock? And what if the Two Tone bands had turned not to punk for inspiration but to the rock and glam of their youth, as well as the reggae bands that so electrified their school years? Combine these two musing thoughts and you're left with rock, a tribute to a cross-hybridization that never happened.... Read More...