The Resignators May Have Kids Now, But They Can Still Kick Out The Party Jams

There is a bit of a story behind the brand new single Party Dates from Melbourne ska/punk act The Resignators, besides simply being a self-descriptive thing.

"We all agreed unanimously on the title," says guitarist and vocalist Steve Douglas, "it really suits our 'party style' philosophy, and it is a shouted gang vocal in the first line of the song. I wrote that song as a true story about our trumpet player, Jeremy Meaden. He told me about his wild partying days, and the song starts there but goes through his life up to this point, getting married and having babies and all that stuff."

"There is a big nod to New Orleans jazz on the album, as that is where a lot of the ska horn style came from."

It is the first single from an upcoming album of the same name, and while they very much maintain their up-tempo vibe on the record, existing fans of the band may also be a little surprised some of the album's content. "We are always high energy, but this album will be our most adventurous to date," he reveals, "it's more cross-genre. There is a big nod to New Orleans jazz on the album, as that is where a lot of the ska horn style came from.

"The Jamaicans used to be able to pick up New Orleans radio, and it had a huge effect on the use of horns in ska. But there is also some salsa, some latin influence, which also played a big part in the formation of ska. Of course, there are some straight up punk rock slammers as well."

The band have also done something pretty wildly different for the B-side of the single, a cover of seminal '80s underground punk act God's classic track My Pal.

"[Lead singer] Francis [Harrison] had that song on CD while we were driving through Canada and after listening to it over and over on long rides between shows I thought that it would be a great cover," he recalls, "It is such a simple iconic riff that it left a lot of room for interpretation. The whole concept of teenagers writing a song that epic really appealed to me, but a bit sad they didn't last long. We love the fact that they were Melbourne boys, of course!"

They're heading out on an extensive tour of the nation in support of the album and Douglas has very high hopes for that jaunt. "It is going to be the greatest tour," he predicts, "mainly because we have a bunch of new songs to play for our friends around Australia. We don't get to see our fans in Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane that often, but it is always a pleasure when we do. We have a big Toyota Coaster tour bus that makes life on the road relatively easy, and we all just love to travel."