In Rotation: Night Gaunts - Conversations With Creation

Night Gaunts deliver a solid set of spaced out ska stompers on their second full-length album. The New Zealand based band's bombastic combination of ska, hip hop and punk is perfect for fans of The Mad Conductor and The Stupid Stupid Henchmen. Night Gaunts bring together the skate/ska vibe and full band hip hop. Live beats make a big difference. In addition to the five people in Night Gaunts, a handful of other musicians stepped in on Conversations With Creation to play synths, melodica, trumpet and more. The band includes keyboards and horns as it is, so the instrumentation on this album has a rich sound.

"8 Dollars" and "Nights & Daze" carry over from the excellent split Night Gaunts put out with Days N' Daze last year. They might be from the other side of the world, but Night Gaunts toured stateside with Days N' Daze last year. Hopefully they will be back again soon to tour on this album. My first exposure to this band was at a show they played with Mustard Plug at Cobra Lounge several years ago, so they do get out here every now and again.

Listen to this album if you like having fun with music. This surely would have been on my longlist for the best of 2015 bracket if it came out a little earlier in the year. It definitely ranks among the most fun ska albums of the year. Watch the video for "8 Dollars" here and the video for "Trippin' in the Basement" here. Stream Conversations With Creation below.