“[In] 2017, I drove to Palm Springs and told Sean about starting a band that mixed vintage reggae and ska with a touch of Conjunto accordion,” says Matt Hensley, legendary skateboarder and accordion player for Celtic punk band, Flogging Molly. “I was hoping he would want to be the singer.” The Sean in question is Sean Wheeler, best known as the unmistakable voice at the center of long-running desert punk band, Throw Rag.
This project, which has been incubating for nearly a decade, has now come to fruition, and the band, now known as A-100s, are releasing their first single today, “Too Rad To Be Sad,” along with an accompanying music video. The song is the lead single off their debut LP Rude and Lovely, which comes out on vinyl on July 10, via Pirates Press Records.
Given their most famous bands, Wheeler and Hensley might not be the first two punk rockers you may have bet on putting out a ska, reggae, and rocksteady project in 2026, but the roots of the project run deep, as does their appreciation for Jamaican music. In the early 90s, prior to Flogging Molly, Hensley even played in a ska band called Spy Kids, and several of his bandmates from that project have reunited for A-100s, including drummer Mark McLemore, bassist Jason Bowen, and John Roy, the accomplished saxophonist behind Smoke & Mirrors Sound System.
And that’s just the beginning of the powerhouse players that came together for this project. Trumpeter Keith Douglas is a current member of Mariachi El Bronx and a former member of Mad Caddies. Monty Naismith of Symarip, a British ska and reggae band that originated in the late 1960s, contributed guest piano to the sessions. And Matt Hensley’s neighbor, Ron Blair – best known as the bassist of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, lent a hand in the studio…literally! He contributed to the “snaps & claps” on the record. Joe Sib of Wax & SideOneDummy Records took an interest and sat in on some sessions, as did Mike Park of Skankin’ Pickle and Asian Man Records.
Sean Wheeler (seated) and Matt Hensley (standing)
With Hensley having built his studio along the way, what seasoned producer could possibly help coordinate and wrangle all of that talent? None other than Roger Rivas of The Aggrolites stepped up to co-produce and mix the album. And it was Roger who reached out to Pirates Press Records about putting out the band’s debut.
As a result, not only are they collaborators, but A-100s and The Aggrolites are now labelmates. Worth noting, LA’s original Dirty Reggae crew will be putting out their seventh studio LP, Super Atomic, on Pirates Press Records the month before Rude and Lovely drops.
“Too Rad To Be Sad” is now streaming on all major platforms, and the music video (above) is on YouTube. The video underscores the band members’ many connections…through playing music together, through scooter culture, through old family photos, and even in clips from old school skateboard videos, as Hensley’s resume also includes being inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame!
As for the message behind the lyrics, all these connections to friends, family, and “radness” are intended as a pick-me-up when the world gets you down. Sean Wheeler points to it as a message of hope & resilience. He says it is about “reminding those around us to keep their heads up. Stay in the light and remind them that they are loved, appreciated, and necessary for the bright future ahead.”
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