Every Kill Lincoln Album Ranked

Kill Lincoln are one of several lesser known modern punk ska bands that have helped keep the genre alive with their impressive hooks and powerful instrumentals. Clearly inspired by band such as Less Than Jake, who they recently recorded a split with, among other earlier 2000’s/90’s ska bands. While each album from Kill Lincoln, over their career as a band, has been tantalizing in its own way, the band never forced a release onto their fans thus always creating the most sound album to date with each song. Kill Lincoln overall add a very real dynamic to ska music, something that isn’t seen often within the genre but the band always proved to be outside of the box. Below we’ve ranked all 4 full-length albums from the band and discuss the differences between the albums as well as why each one ranks above the last.

Can’t Complain

Can’t Complain was the newest full-length album from DC’s Kill Lincoln and featured some of their most modern ska music yet and much lesser of their previously heard ska-core sound. The band could never and was never truly considered ska-core but as it’s never become a real genre and the band was slightly heavier earlier in their career, they’ve been referred to as the genre at times. Compared to the rest of the band’s discography, I would say that Can’t Complain and Good Riddance stack up well next to each other with the band becoming more of a true ska sounding group than ever before. While Can’t Complain is very much its own album and sound, it still never stops being a classic Kill Lincoln song as they’ve always retained a very solid sound. Overall, Can’t Complain rounds the bound out to a more solidified sound throughout the entire album.

Good Riddance to Good Advice

Good Riddance to Good Advice, the third full-length album from Kill Lincoln, featured a more steady ska, rock sound but also featured the band’s traditional core ska sound. Overall the album does well now but in comparison to That’s Cool and You Were There, Good Riddance to Good Advice is much different in its themes and styles. Although Kill Lincoln’s album release schedule appears to be all over the place, since the release of this album, it appears that the band are following a more strict schedule.

Between this album and That’s Cool… the band released a 4 track EP featuring 3 live renditions of songs and a new single called “Second Cities”. The songs were added to this album to bring the 6 song release to a stronger, more familiar 10 track release. Good Riddance felt more like an album of being forced to go through the motions of life and still remaining whole as the same person before.

That’s Cool… In a Totally Negative and Destructive Way

That’s Cool… In a Totally Negative and Destructive Way is the most experimental sounding album from Kill Lincoln and featured a strong combination of ska elements and pop-punk elements but also brought out more of the earlier mentioned skacore. All of these elements are bound to stick with Kill Lincoln for the rest of their music but with some definitive progression. While most albums from the band featured all of these elements, That’s Cool… featured experimental, skacore elements the most of them all.

Although most of That’s Cool… feels very much like a Less Than Jake song, Kill Lincoln do an incredible job at sticking out from the rest of the crowd constantly, in the most positive way. Overall, That’s Cool… ranked second on our Kill Lincoln albums ranked list due to how true to ska the album was and something fresh and new all at the same time but doesn’t compare the same as You Were There.

You Were There

You Were There, the debut full-length album from Kill Lincoln featured the most perfect experimental combination of the previous mentioned elements of pop-punk, skacore, punk and ska. The album featured Kill Lincoln’s most popular song to date, “Get Fucked Four Eyes”. Other songs on the album aren’t as popular today but the album got the band into an incredible spotlighted position as newfound leaders of this new combination of pop-punk, skacore, and ska elements. You Were There also has a strong resemblance to Streetlight Manifesto, which shouldn’t be a surprise coming from an east coast band like Kill Lincoln. Overall, You Were There ranked as first on our Kill Lincoln albums ranked list due to how genre shattering the album was at release and still today.