Amazon.comSkinnerbox are the ska band you really want to play at your party. From old school to Two Tone to funk with an offbeat, and even the odd little twinge of ragga and dancehall, these guys can, and have done it all, as this "best of" testifies very eloquently. Walk into a room when this is playing and you'll think you've hit a time warp back to the '60s (those blue beat and Skatalites-type stylings) or the early-'80s (those tunes you'd swear The Specials had recorded first). And it's not because they're mere copyists; it's because the members of Skinnerbox have the chops and the knowledge to pull it off. Whatever they're playing, there's still the sense of Skinnerbox at the helm, maybe bowing in someone's direction, but never letting their own identities slip. A party in every jewel case. --Chris Nickson