*** Various Artists

TAKE WARNING: THE SONGS OF OPERATION IVY

(Glue Factory)

For a band who released just one LP and one EP's worth of music before calling it quits in 1989, Berkeley's Operation Ivy made a lasting impact as modern-day ska-punk originators. Now the quartet's torch is being carried by seeming legions of second-generation American groups. But can the humbly influenced fill the shoes of the masters? Wrong question, of course, as the 13 groups on Take Warning are concerned less with faithful covers than with incorporating the Op Ivy sound into their own style -- including horns, which though Op Ivy never used 'em are integral to many current ska-punk combos. Oregon's Cherry Poppin' Daddies give the hyper-anthemic "Sound System" a robust swing-jazz twist; the hornless Teen Heroes punctuate "Smiling" with Stereolab-ish keyboard bleeps; Marshall Arts turns "Bad Town" into a trip-hop/dub/go-go triumph; and the relentlessly goofy Aquabats play the sacred "Knowledge" as a camp(y) sing-along. Granted that this tribute offers its share of idol worship, Take Warning is of all things true to itself.

-- Mark Woodlief