Tim Armstrong

Hold On
From A Poet’s Life

One of the most difficult questions for me to answer in recent years is What’s your favorite band of all time? There are a lot of bands who have had a lot of impact in my life. As I get older, I gravitate toward a much easier sound. The bands I have followed for the last decade or so are downright soft. A couple of these softer bands not only get regular rotation, but manage to create music that I identify with better than any other music I’ve ever listened to.

But one band started the whole thing. My music addiction can be traced directly to Operation Ivy.

No matter how far away I move from the rebellious scene of my youth, I have yet to move away from anything and everyone connected to OpIvy. In the wake of their brake-up, Rancid became my favorite punk band. I bought everything even remotely related, from Auntie Christ to Dance Hall Crashers. I even went through an obligatory ska phase after high school.

Well, I’m not punk anymore. Not even close. But I still find myself keeping tabs to the Ivy kids. The latest installment is a solo album by Tim Armstrong. It’s his standard brand of ska-punk, leaning way more ska than usual. I can’t get enough.

When it comes right down to it, Operation Ivy really is my favorite band of all time.