Pick It Up!: Ska in the '90s

It's been a long time coming for a documentary on third wave sk, and I sat down with a lot of excitement to watch this. However as it went on it became clear that for a ska fan it was just another documentary about its origins, and how it developed into the mainstream. There felt like a lot of bands missing who made a big impact and as usual stuck to the same old like less than Jake, bosstones, mustard plug etc. There was also no reference to the UK third wave scene which had a huge influence on the USA scene in the later 90s and early 00s such as farse, capdown, random hand. And would have also been great to have covered the Christian scene with bands such as five iron frenzy and oc supertones.

I absolutely love this ska-cumentary! It is a great summary of the history of ska and the prevalence of the ska boom during the 90's, and it also offers a great glimpse of what the future holds in store. I would show this movie to anyone who loves ska and anyone who loves someone who loves ska (like my husband)! It has a great sense of humor and is worth watching again and again. Pick It Up!

This movie is such a wonderful love letter to any ska fan. It's got all the names and faces you've grown to love, just talking about how magical ska is. Pick it up now!

Whether you're into music, ska, or good documentaries... This such a good movie! It's fun, good music, good animations, telling the history of ska, a variety of the more famous ska bands and what happened. It's even good to have playing in the background it's that good!

I genuinely don't see how anyone not find it enjoyable. It doesn't cover every ska band or every aspect... But it covers enough to appeal to the masses including music fans and people who have no idea what it is.

They interviewed celebrities and people on the street. Lots of famous people in this, and the interview questions were very good and meaningful.

I've seen it 8 times and I've shown it to 6. Everyone has thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was a super interesting film & really managed to cover so much ground about the genre too: while it is about the 3rd-wave of ska-- it does a great job of both defining ska, while also quickly going over the origin of ska (especially with hitting on the fact that ska actually came before reggae) and summarizes the first movements: first wave (with quick mentions of Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, etc.) & the two tone movement (the Specials, the Selecter, Madness, etc.) and then dives rather deeply into the 90's//3rd-wave of ska!

It was interesting that a notable figure within the genre narrates the film as well (Tim Armstrong-- founder of Hellcats Records, also member of Rancid, Operation Ivy, & other groups that also relate to the film). The film does a particularly great job of not only featuring bigger bands of the genre (Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, Less Than Jake, the Interrupters, No Doubt-- whose first record//earlier years were spent as a ska group briefly-- and many others) but also features groups a bit more underground (Mephiskapheles, Suicide Machines, MU330, the O.C. Supertones, etc.) to give a very well rounded perspective from bands of different styles/tastes within the genre.

The film is very well loaded with excellent live footage and interviews-- not only do the interviews consist of the groups themselves, but also interviewed are prmoters, radio DJ, journalist/writers, too.

All in all, this film is really fun-- highly informative, and excellently covers the genre in a way that rather you are new to the music or a die-hard long time fan-- there will be something in it for you to enjoy no matter what!