H.B. ska band salutes fans on new album

Suburban Legends’ latest album is a tribute to people they consider friends — their fans.

The six-piece Huntington Beach ska group, known for its choreographed shows, released “Forever in the FriendZone” on June 2.

The album, which has a theme of friendship, follows the group’s 2012 release, “Day Job,” and 2013’s collection of Disney cover tunes, “Dreams Aren’t Real, But These Songs Are, Vol. 1.”

Singer Vince Walker said recording “Forever in the FriendZone,” the seventh full-length studio album of the band’s 16-year career, was a different process.

“We actually spent time working on the songs and reworking them,” he said. “We reworked some of the songs a bunch of times until we felt like they were worth recording. Some of the songs were totally different musically or had different themes.”

Though the band began brainstorming the album in spring last year, many of the songs were ideas that the group came up with 12 years ago for its “Rump Shaker” record.

But song ideas weren’t enough. The band needed financial backing. So in August, the group set up a Kickstarter fund for the new album, hoping to raise a modest minimum of $10. Kickstarter rules require causes to reach their fundraising goal before they can receive any money from those who pledge donations.

More than 700 people pledged a total of $30,383 for the campaign, enough for mixing, mastering, shipping and other costs. The band still has some money in reserve for “fun stuff” to support the record, such as music videos, bassist Brad Polidori said.

“We just kind of had a goal of $10,” he said. “We thought there was someone out there with $10 to spare. When you do a Kickstarter, you only get one chance to do it. We thought we would do it and see if we could get any help. I thought maybe we could break $5,000 or $10,000, but we were lucky that everyone was just so nice. It was really overwhelming.”

Walker said seeing how much the Kickstarter fund raised “put a fire” to the band to deliver to its fans.

The group put in studio time with Pot O’ Gold Recording in Orange, which also has worked on albums for ska bands Half Past Two and Beebs and Her Money Makers, to create the 14-track “Forever in the FriendZone.”

The album includes danceable tracks such as “SL High” and “Love Song” that represent the band’s signature two-tone sound.

Like on its past records, the group included a cover song — a modernized “Thank You for Being a Friend,” the theme from the old TV series “The Golden Girls.” The song originally was recorded as a short video to thank the Kickstarter backers, but it later turned into a studio recording for the album.

Songs like “Worry On My Mind” show a more mature side to the band. The song, which concludes the record, features acoustic guitar, with Walker singing about being in a relationship in which the romance has faded.

Suburban Legends will play shows throughout the summer at Disneyland’s Tomorrowland Terrace and has a U.S. tour planned for late summer and a European tour planned for the fall.

Fans are already singing along to the new songs at Tomorrowland Terrace and learning the band’s new dance moves.

“Everyone comes out to the shows and is so awesome, but then, to show that kind of support with the Kickstarter and then the album, it kind of makes a person tear up a bit,” Walker said. “It’s really nice. We’re really thankful for it.”