Streetlight Manifesto

The New Jersey ska-punk outfit Streetlight Manifesto grew out of two similar late-'90s groups from the region, One Cool Guy and <a href="spotify:artist:1xgA0hENxpykh3AxlMBjlT">Catch-22</a>. Delivering a brassy, upbeat brand of third wave ska -- complete with punk-styled melodies courtesy of vocalist Tomas Kalnoky -- the band made its debut in 2003 with Everything Goes Numb. Two years of touring followed as Streetlight Manifesto played countless shows alongside <a href="spotify:artist:7If6MttSgSBYMLaUnmW5ze">Whole Wheat Bread</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1kCnkCPBvBQFZv6njWcD7x">Mu330</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2Au2mS47rMRkqbU4XJqKMh">Bedouin Soundclash</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4IJczjB0fJ04gs4uvP0Fli">Gym Class Heroes</a>. However, personnel changes and equipment theft proved to be frequent setbacks. In October 2005, the band was robbed of nearly $80,000 worth of equipment and possessions from its van, only to suffer another robbery while on tour in Europe the very next month. Streetlight Manifesto ended 2005 by touring alongside <a href="spotify:artist:6JqiYCJwtFqBMCvX772Pw2">the Tossers</a> on the brief (and appropriately titled) Please Stop Robbing Us Tour.

Keasbey Nights, a re-recorded version of the 1998 <a href="spotify:artist:1xgA0hENxpykh3AxlMBjlT">Catch-22</a> album, was released in March 2006, and the band spent the summer opening for <a href="spotify:artist:3bXhZFreBJF4QDUUiMmtZW">Reel Big Fish</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1cSpfa4Un4NCOzeOKgGtG9">MxPx</a> on a national co-headlining tour. The group continued to tour with <a href="spotify:artist:3bXhZFreBJF4QDUUiMmtZW">Reel Big Fish</a> for much of the remaining year, as well as a large chunk of 2007. Frequent concert dates didn't preclude Streetlight Manifesto from returning to the studio, however, and the band released the full-length album Somewhere in the Between in November 2007. For 99 Songs of Revolution, Vol. 1, the seven-piece took a break from writing new material and compiled an album of ska versions of contemporary pop covers. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Victory+Records%22">Victory Records</a> released it as the first in a series in March of 2010. Streetlight Manifesto returned with new material in 2013 with their oft pushed-back fifth record, The Hands That Thieve, an album that would prove to be their last for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Victory%22">Victory</a>. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi