We Are The Union deliver super catchy ska-punk on new single "Your Way, Your Time"

We Are The Union, who were one of the bands we highlighted in our new feature on the current DIY ska scene, have been staying pretty productive during these concert-less times. They released a ska-punk cover of the traditional folk song “Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad” (famously covered by Woody Guthrie, the Grateful Dead, and others) on 4/20, they contributed the brand new song “Ordinary Life” to Bad Time Records, Asian Man Records, and Ska Punk Daily’s awesome Ska Against Racism benefit compilation, and they’ve been releasing behind-the-scenes studio footage from the sessions for their great 2018 album Self Care, which was the long-running band’s first album with Jeremy Hunter (JER, Skatune Network).

We Are The Union are keeping it going with the release of “Your Way, Your Time” and its video, which premieres in this post. The song was originally written as a custom song for a Self Care Kickstarter backer, Luke Asher, but now it’s been reworked for the whole world to hear. “Luke asked us to write a song about struggling to find your own path while also navigating the pressures we all feel to live a ‘conventional’ life,” vocalist/guitarist Reed Wolcott tells us. “We loved the resulting song and its message so much, we asked if we could re-work it and release our own version, and Luke said yes! Also the video is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.”

The song is a super fun, super catchy ska-punk ripper fleshed out by the same kind of big, bright horn arrangements found on Self Care, and the Chris Graue-directed video literally is bananas. (You’ll see.) If you’re unfamiliar with We Are The Union, they blend ’90s-style ska-punk with a kind of modern-day indie-pop-punk that falls somewhere between The Wonder Years and Jeff Rosenstock’s solo career, making for something that feels fresh and nostalgic at the same time, and “Your Way, Your Time” is no exception. It’s a great example of what they do, as you can hear for yourself below.

We Are The Union recently repressed Self Care on blue splatter vinyl and quickly sold out of it, but you can pick it up on CD and get other WATU merch here. And if you haven’t heard it yet, you can stream Self Care below too.

And in related news, Jeremy Hunter just released the debut JER single on Bad Time Records last week.

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Previously: Ska is thriving right now. Here’s a look at the DIY scene that’s keeping it alive