Fighting the Urge to Waste Away by Good Luck, Ugly

Upon first listen of this album, I decided that I had to find out more about Good Luck Ugly.

After much internet sleuthing, I couldn't find anything other than that they are a punk/ska band from Orange, California . I did, however, find an email address to contact the band. So I sent an email hoping for a reply. Within a few minutes, a response came from Mike Alvarez. He informed me that the band is him on guitar/vox and Chris Benner on bass, but on this album Mike performed, recorded, and mixed everything himself. I thought that was incredible.

This album could easily be mistaken for a number of late 90’s, 3rd wave ska bands. The sound and west coast influence are very prominent, which I enjoy. The album starts out solidly with a few upbeat sounding songs that had me tapping my boots to the beat. The addition of the synthesizer was a welcomed nostalgic touch. In true punk/ska fashion, these songs also speak about problems that I feel most of us deal with at some time or another.

"She Said": A song about not being good enough, or so they say…If you've been there then you know. I really loved the lyrics in this song, they struck me just right. The video for this song really shows off Mike’s talents, this guy does it all and i'm here for it.

The song, "Save Me", deals with self depreciation. Many of us have been there or may be currently. Perhaps you think that you are not good enough, or have been told so by assholes who only care about themselves. Just know that's not the case; keep being you!

And to conclude is possibly my favorite song on this album, a cover of "Jesus is a Friend of Mine" by Sonseed. This song became a meme in the ska community and rightly so cuz it's so darn catchy, I feel Sal Polichetti would approve of this rendition.

If you want to check out Good Luck Ugly you can listen to them on Bandcamp and YouTube. Also don't forget to give their Facebook page a like while you're at it. I thoroughly enjoyed this album, and I encourage all of you to “Pick it up, Pick it up, Pick it up!”