Pick It Up – Ska in the 90s

Pick It Up – Ska in the 90s tells the story of the rise and fall of the ska genre by all of those that were a part of it.

I was never big on ska. I was a fan of early No Doubt and Sublime, but never really gravitated to the other bands of the genre much. But I am a huge fan of music and listen to all kinds of music. So, I’m all about music documentaries. And I have to say that Pick It Up – Ska in the 90s is one of the better music documentaries out there.

What makes it such an excellent documentary is that it’s told from mouths of those that lived it, played it, and sang it. You hear from bands like Operation Ivy, Reel Big Fish, The Aquabats, Save Ferris, and so much more! I know that sounds like an infomercial, but it’s true! Some of the bands not only talk about the origin of ska but also the origin of their bands. It feels like a complete story of ska. They even discuss how ska started to die out in the late 90s and early 2000 because of an oversaturation of bands that were coming out and being described as ska when they were more alternative or pop than anything.

“What makes it such an excellent documentary is that it’s told from mouths of those that lived it, played it, and sang it.”

Also addressed is how the Latino community adopted the genre and somewhat revamped it and kept it from dying out. Now, this is something that I actually witnessed in high school — growing up in So. Cal (where ska had a colossal presence), I witnessed ska bands that were majority Latino groups and were very popular in the early 2000s. It was awesome to see in this documentary that this revived genre by Latinos was actually taking place in other countries and not just in California.