No.48 - ‘Forget The World’ by The Hippos (1997)

“It's two in the morning, I'm tired as hell; What am I doing behind the wheel? The lights have all blurred into a row; How long I'll be up, I just don't know; I'm falling asleep, asleep at the wheel; This feels like a dream but this is real…”

A shout out to one of the old forgotten CD compilations that helped me discover many ska and punk bands before online streaming. Whichever one it was, the Hippos were the stand out band and ‘Forget the World’ has remained one of my favourite ska punk albums. 

Their sound is not unlike Reel Big Fish, but this album smashes them out the ball park. It may not have the production values of the bigger bands, but the Hippos have a great sound. The most notable unique feature comes from the percussionist. It creates a wonderful party atmosphere and helps form interesting rhythms throughout.

The songs are very upbeat, super catchy and incredibly infectious. The horn section plays neat and simple pieces that compliment the songs perfectly and harmonise effectively. The bass lines are not simple and add a very fun underlay to the songs. Guitars are rock solid in their rhythms and the vocals are sublime, with harmonies that work incredibly well throughout the songs. 

The third wave ska genre remained underground in the UK, whilst never really topping charts in the US, with many of bands disappearing into obscurity. The Hippos are unfortunately one of them and wont even be a name well known to many fans of the genre. This album was written whilst the band were still in secondary, or high school, which shows their enormous talent. If you want a really good punk pick me up, give this album a good listen.

The Hippos formed in 1996 and disbanded in 2002. Although rooted in ska and punk, they morphed into a synth based power pop rock band… Forget The World never charted and unfortunately it has never released on vinyl.

Favourite songs - Asleep At The Wheel, When Will I Learn, Diane, Far Behind, Don’t Worry