4. A Match and Some Gasoline (2003)

Length: 28:05

First of all, I really love this album. It offers a great redemption for the band with songs that are full of energy, excitement, and enthusiasm. Tracks that are lyrically charged and centered on politics and personal life. The production on the album is maybe what really helps it to stand out and give it more of a “punch” with the band enlisting the talents at Blasting Room Studios — giving the album a much fuller sound. While the record itself is very aggressive, the track order is setup perfectly to never tire out the listener — going back and forth from hardcore punk to ska punk. There isn’t really a single weak song on the album, and really the only thing I can think to fault the album for is it feels a little short (although not the shortest TSM record). If you’re looking for a record to pump you up, this is a great one to go with, although the second half doesn’t quite match the intensity of the first.

Recommended Tracks: High Anxiety, Your Silence, & Did You Ever Get A Feeling of Dread?

3. Revolution Spring (2020)

Length: 34:28

There was a lot of anticipation leading up to this album. How would they sound after a 15 year absence between records? How different would they sound without founding member Dan Lukacinsky on guitar/backing vocals? Luckily for us all, they managed to pick up nearly right where they left off. Yes, the production isn’t quite as nice as their last 2 albums (but it’s still good), and yes I do miss Lukacinsky’s vocals backing up Navarro, but overall this is an album that’s far better than I expected. With the inclusion of horns and organ on a few songs, Revolution Spring is probably the most similar to their debut album — I guess things have come full circle. A minor gripe I have, but as someone who loves opening tracks, Revolution Spring somewhat disappoints here. The opening track isn’t bad, but it just doesn’t feel like an intro song, and think they should have opened with something like “Potter’s Song”. Lyrically, the songs are a mix of politics and personal issues, but without quite the same ferocity of the previous two records — although you can still find some full-on furious hardcore songs. I hope this record is a sign of things to come and we don’t have to wait too long for another.

Recommended Tracks: Potter’s Song, Impossible Possibilities, & Detroit is the New Miami

2. Destruction By Definition (1996)

Length: 37:16

What an incredible debut album and one that immediately made a mark on the ska punk genre. Destruction By Definition was able to capture that youthful energy in a way that transcends the years, making the album sound just as fresh now as it did almost 25 years ago. The lyrics here don’t really cover anything political except maybe scene politics so it doesn’t match the ferocity of future albums, but that doesn’t mean that it’s any less honest or urgent, just that the themes here are more narrow and localized. Although there’s a couple moments where the band gets more aggressive, their future focus on hardcore rarely comes through, instead the album is chalked full of upstrokes, pick-it-ups, hammond organ (played by Derek Grant), and some really well-placed horns. Although I prefer how Navarro’s vocals matured over the years, he still sounds great here, if not a bit inexperienced. I think the only aspect that keeps this record from being in first place is the filler tracks at the end of the album. I think you could shave off 3–4 songs and end up with a better album that’s still 30min long. None of these filler songs are bad though, they just don’t match the quality of the best tracks.

Recommended Tracks: Hey, New Girl, & The Real You

1. War Profiteering Is Killing Us all (2005)

Length: 27:53

This right here is everything I want from a Suicide Machines album, it shows what the band is able to produce when firing on all cylinders. War Profiteering contains a significant amount of similarities to A Match and Some Gasoline from two years prior. Recorded and produced by the same people it’s unsurprisingly sonically similar, but the similarities aren’t just there. The types of songs, hardcore and ska punk, are also extremely comparable. What War Profiteering does is ever-so-slightly improve on everything from AMaSG. The lyrics here are a little more focused and each song is structured to perfection. Instead of favouring the first or second half, this album moves along flawlessly — something that may be due to the album’s short runtime. After listening to all of their albums again several times, I found that this was the one that I always wanted to go back to and just couldn’t get enough of. “I Went On Tour for Ten Years…” alone may be reason enough to give this album first place.

Recommended Tracks: I Went On Tour for Ten Years…, Junk, & Red Flag