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Welcome readers to another month, and another featured band! This month The Sound Faction celebrates one of my personal favourite bands of all time! A third wave ska band from Orange County California... Suburban Legends!

For those of you unfamiliar with the Ska movements, "Third Wave" refers to all ska music performed by bands (particularly American bands) that started in the 80's or later. (If you're interested, the first wave of ska started with the Jamacian ska period in the 60's, and the second wave is the two-tone period that popped up in Britain in the late 70's.) Ska stylistically combines Jamacian Mento, Calypso, American Jazz and R&B into one (freakin awesome) genre!

Suburban Legends, however, diverge from typical Third-Wave Ska sounds, adding their own blend of Pop, Disco, Rock and Funk to the mix, along with some pretty sweet dance moves, if I do say so myself.

The band's first full album "Origin Edition" dropped in 1999 and was used as a Demo of sorts to promote the band during early shows. A burned disc from the computer and photocopied artwork means this is a rare fine for Suburban Legends fans, as there are only a few in existence. Prior to "Origin Edition" was "The Bomb Squad EP" which not many people know was actually a self-titled EP for the band, as their band name at that time (1998) was, in fact, Bomb Squad.

Following "Origin Edition" came the Suburban Legend's self titled EP "Suburban Legends" in 2001, "Suburban Legends Raw (Karaoke)" and "Suburban Legends (Tim Remix)" both in 2002, and a year later their second full-length album "Rump Shaker" in 2003, dropping from Lobster Girl Records and sold 15,000 copies before being released on Brand New Hero Records in the UK.

"Rump Shaker" was the last album from the band that featured trombonist Ryan Dallas Cook who sadly died in a motorcycle accident in October of 2005.

With 2006's release of the band's third EP "Dance Like Nobody's Watching" came a lineup change, former lead trumpet player Vincent Walker taking over as Frontman and Vocalist. Along with the lineup change came a bit of a sound change as well, the band leaning more towards the Pop/Rock/Funk sound, with a much less prominent Third-Wave Ska sound.

2007 brought the nine-track album "Infectious" to the table and promises of another album soon to come, which fans have speculated will be getting back to the band's Third Wave Ska roots. The album is "Let's Be Friends" which ships out on July 10th!! Recording started in April of 2008 with producer Dallas Kruse.

During Suburban Legend's performance at Bamboozle Left, Vince Walker announced the new album, adding "We're going back to our roots!" Luis Beza, trumpet, appeared on the band's website forum telling fans: "We are putting out a new album!", "The whole vibe of this new album is just straight up fun" and "ps. *** is coming back" Fans immediately started to speculate on the mystery of ***, hoping that it either meant "Ska" or "Tim" (Mauer), the band's previous lead vocalist.

Well, we'll have to wait and see about that one, in the mean time, the band released their second DVD on March 4th, titled "Poisonous Candy Factory" it features three live performances from San Fransisco, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, as well as music videos and tons of extra footage! The band's first DVD "Season One" is effectively out of print, and a rare find for fans, so the release of "Poisonous Candy Factory" was a great surprise for fans who love to see the brass line pop a move on stage!

For me, personally, Suburban Legends is about just having a damn good time. There's no way to listen to the music and not have a grin on your face, or a groove in your step. I honestly will give someone a dollar if they can listen to the music without at LEAST bopping their head.

To watch the band give their all on stage to make people smile and laugh is a great thing to see! Come on, people... they have choreographed dancing, what more could you want!?

Caity's top 5 songs for the Suburban Legends Virgin:

Do It For The Kids - (Rump Shaker)
High Fives - (Rump Shaker)
Bright Spring Morning - (Rump Shaker)
Hey DJ - (Dance Like Nobody's Watching)
So Fine - (Infectious)

In any event, I've rambled long enough, and could honestly go on for days about it, so I'll give the other girls a chance to toss in their thoughts, and leave you with this: even if Ska isn't your scene... check it out. You might be surprised, and at the very least, you'll learn some boss dance moves.

When the name Suburban Legends first came across my vision, I wasn't sure what to expect really. I mean I usually don't ever judge a book by its cover and always give everything one chance. So that is when I dove into the website and the automatic player started to play. And from that first note, I was honestly hooked. It just grabbed me and it had me moving in the spot I sat. I browsed through the website and read on the history of the band and greatly enjoyed what I read. People who know me know that a lot of times I usually don't stray from the music I know. I tend to keep with what I know and just enjoy it. I was glad that his band crossed my radar.

I watched countless videos on youtube of the band doing live performances, because I know a lot of bands are just studio bands and don't really do much else. But watching them live was amazing. Even the choregraphed dance moves had me in giggles (These were the good kinda giggles.) I am greatly looking forward to hearing more of their music and seeing them live when they cross the border in September to play a show here in Toronto. I think that everyone should listen to this band, should enjoy the way they put together the music, and their interaction with the fans. And the total fact that they can bring a smile to anyones face. GO LISTEN. AND ENJOY!

I have to get something off my chest before I can explain the virtues of this month's band, Suburban Legends. I am not a Ska person, nor have I ever heard of Suburban Legends before Caity announced that they were this month's featured band.

Now, after hearing their name, I expected something a bit more hardcore or screamo, just based on previous Band of the Month's that I hadn't listened to or heard of. When I got to their website, I was surprised by the disco ball and all the pink and happy bright colors. These were quickly explained when their new single "Girl's Got What I Want" started playing. This song is upbeat, catchy, and has just the right number of trumpets. After listening to other songs from their new album, and some of their older fare found on their MySpace, I might just have to eat my previous statement about not being a Ska person.

If you are in the mood to dance around your room in underwear, put Suburban Legends in your playlist. You'll be boogie-ing in your underoos in no time. Trust me. Have the SF girls steered you wrong before? I didn't think so.

As you can see from my profile, I like almost every kind of music, and Suburban Legends is no expception! Like Natty, I had never heard of them before, And like Natty I checked out their website and was hooked from the first song! Swing is one of my favourite kinds of music, and though these guys have a strong Pop sound, they also display some awesome Swing in their sound which makes you want to just get up and dance.

When I watched some of their live performances, I was completely not expecting what I saw! Their live sound was amazing, and the dance moves... well those just rocked my socks! I, too, cannot wait to see them live!!

I'm very happy to add them to my iPod, and I strongly suggest you do the same! They will rock your socks, for serious!

Suburban Legends! Oh man, I love these guys.

As with many bands I've come to love in the last couple years, Caity introduced them to me, and they've been making me dance ever since! I'm not the biggest Ska kid on the planet, but I do enjoy it every now and then (... Okay, I like anything that makes me grin and dance around, be it Ska or not), but I was on a Little Mermaid kick for a week or so about a year ago... Caity randomly sends me a clip of SL playing an "Under the Sea" cover! AH! I don't think you can comprehend how AWESOME that is to me!

...And the brass boys dance! C'mon! That's amazing.

I mean, Miss Natty has already determined that she's stealing me and that we're going to see them when they come to Toronto! Now... not that she would need to steal me, but the sheer enthusiasm of her being willing to psychologically scar her friends if they're not willing in order to see this band should say they're something awesome, haha!

So, yes! Go listen to the Suburban Legends, dance, giggle, and watch your day 180 if it's in the negative, and... well... stay the same, but better, if you're already in a good mood!