Las Vegas Review-Journal (March 27th 1992)

Band hopes to revive Jamaican dance rhythm

If you're crazy about ska - or even familiar with it - you probably qualify for membership in what No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani calls "a little cult."

The Orange County, Calif., band is trying to revive for the '90s what British bands such as Madness, the Specials and Selecter did in the early '80s for the Jamaican dance rhythm that pre-dated reggae.

Most people are more familiar with ska when they hear it; the manic beat is hard to describe but hard to resist. "It's so happy, that's what it is," says Stefani.

No Doubt opened for the Cadillac Tramps at the Shark Club a few weeks ago and went over so well they return Thursday at 8 p.m.; admission is $5. The return is well-timed with this week's release of their self-titled debut album.

The eight-piece band - including three horns - doesn't limit itself to ska, however. "Ska gives us the energy and makes it exciting (but) it's so simple," she says. "It's when you mix it with funk, punk, rock and soul that it gets interesting."

Gwen, 22, and brother Eric - the keyboardist and main songwriter - formed their first version of the band while still in high school in Anaheim. "He's the one that made me sing," she says. The current lineup got its first break opening for the like-minded The Untouchables (due at The Metz April 26) and inherited the band's fan following.

However, No Doubt packed clubs for a year before they could attract interest from record labels, perhaps fearful their party sound wouldn't translate to the studio. The band almost finished an independent album before Interscope, an Atlantic sub-label, signed them and sent them back to the studio to do the songs over.

Now the future is wide open, particularly if MTV or other video outlets latch onto Stefani, who tempers a Madonna-fit physique with a trippy charm more akin to Debbie Harry.

However, "Our video is going to be low-budget," she says. "We only have so much money to spend, and if we spent it all on a video and MTV didn't play it, then we wouldn't have money to tour. And if anything is going to give us more of an audience, it's going to be playing live."