Most music lovers have countless songs or albums that they’ve listened to countless times that essentially no one else in their life has even heard of.
That is one of many factors that led me to embarking on a five-year journey to compile the best 1,000 albums ever, where after nine months of research I wrote an article about every single album that became more pop culture-meets-memoir versus music review. Much more interesting that way for everyone, yes?
In the case of the band known as the Voodoo Glow Skulls, there are only a few people in my life who have ever heard of them. Of course, within the ska and hardcore communities, they’re well known and beloved. I recall the band once being referred to as “barrio skacore,” which I found kind of fun and specific.
I was lucky enough to catch VGS live only once, during their participation in the Van’s Warped Tour. It was the summer circa the late ‘90s, and the festival took place on Randal’s Island in New York City on a brutally hot day.
So this sets the scene that it was crowded, it was hot, and it was also dusty as hell. There was so much dust kicked up by the crowds, in fact, that we could barely see the outdoor stage. So in my mind’s eye I have a vague recollection of frontman Frank Casillas stomping around the stage amidst the exquisitely controlled chaos of Voodoo Glow Skulls’ sonic attack. Occasionally the band would be fully visible through the dust cloud, like some kind of music-adorned fever dream made real.
A few other asides from that day: I was also able to see (well, mostly hear) a shocking number of the best ska punk and punk bands from the era, including The Suicide Machines, The Aquabats, Bad Religion, Mad Caddies, and The Specials.
And as bonus: I inhaled so much dust in one afternoon that I literally had to scrape dirt out of my mouth. Good times.
Anyway, Voodoo Glow Skulls hail from Southern California, a region I lived in for many years. While I lived in Pasadena, which is inland enough from the ocean to get very hot for a large chunk of the year, VGS are from Riverside, which is very inland. In fact that area is part of what’s called the Inland Empire.
It was my friend Dave who turned me on to VGS during my college days in upstate New York. I recall him showing me the brilliant Who Is, This Is? on CD, in fact. He was ahead of the curve on the ska scene – at least circa upstate New York circles – and had also discovered a band called Sublime as well as I recall.
As I alluded to, while Voodoo Glow Skulls’ sound is heavily ska influenced, it’s fused in a unique way with a hardcore punk side to the band that is (very) loud and clear on almost every song they produce. The magical ingredient that elevates VGS into being an elite band is how shockingly melodious and tuneful their sound is, and nearly always quintessentially upbeat in feel.
Also critical: this ain’t just a ska punk band with a horn section. This might be THE ska punk band with a horn section if you can dig. They [REDACTED] cook.
This brings us to “Nada En La Cabeza.” Here’s what I wrote about it in the best 1,000 albums ever piece about the Steady As She Goes album (#711), which was released back in 2002:
“Nada En La Cabeza” is one of my most favorite VGS songs in their entire catalog. The hook is insanely great, and the Spanish language lyrics and chorus, whether you speak the language or not, is deeply infectious and entirely fantastic.
Perhaps one day I’ll do a “definitive” ranking of top VGS songs – I can never know where my heart will lead me in such endeavors – but I’ll speculate that “Nada En La Cabeza” would be somewhere in the Top 20. I note this to say that VGS has dozens of truly incredible tracks that they’ve produced over a long career.
So “Nada En La Cabeza” as song is both special and yet is of a quality that the band has produced quite a lot of over the years.
It also packs in all of the best qualities that the Voodoo Glow Skulls represent: aggressive yet relentlessly upbeat, tuneful and surprisingly clean production, a sophisticated feel for songcraft, and a relentless tempo that torpedoes along.
And then there’s that hook, those crunching guitars, a wildly catchy chorus, those horns, and godlike drums from Jerry O’Neill powering the entire operation wonderfully.
I realized during a recent listen that “Nada En La Cabeza” is one of the greatest songs that you’ve probably never heard of, so I feel compelled here from the Pop Thruster control room to spread the gospel about it to the digital masses.