Mighty Mighty Bosstones

An attempt to mainstream the Bosstones' sound and accentuate their metal influences backfires somewhat here. The band's connection to ska has sometimes seemed tenuous at best, but on Don't Know How to Party, the ska is reduced to a mere stylistic quirk punctuating a set of essentially heavy metal songs, which mutes the band's originality. "Holy Smoke" and a cover of the Stiff Little Fingers' "Tin Soldiers" do manage to make an impact, and "Someday I Suppose" is recycled (in an inferior version), but the lackluster songwriting renders this album necessary for diehards only.