The beloved ska band makes an unlikely return after 30 years. The Sublime of 2026 is in constant conversation with the original ska-punk pioneers that changed the shape of modern rock music in the 1990s. Original drummer Bud Gaugh and bassist Eric Wilson have since recruited singer Jakob Nowell, who was only a year old when the last Sublime album came out—two months after his father Bradley died of an overdose, bringing a tragic end to the Long Beach, California band’s initial run. Sublime stayed in the popular imagination thanks to a touring iteration of the group fronted by singer Rome Ramirez and interest from pop stars like Lana Del Rey, who offered up a cover of “Doin’ Time” on her 2019 LP Norman Fucking Rockwell. Despite their constant presence from the mid-1990s on, it’s only fitting that the band’s unlikely studio return after 30 years away features a Nowell front and center. On Until the Sun Explodes, Nowell walks a fine line between honoring his father and establishing his own voice, mixing in the cheeky sardonic humor pioneered by his pops with his own POV. Sublime will never be the same band they were when they changed the face of ska, and on Until the Sun Explodes, they’re happy to exist in a new, familiar world. The bouncy jams and tongue-in-cheek lyrics remain, but the sound is smoother, less edgy. When they invite punk agitators like FIDLAR on “Backwards,” they let the guests bring in a raucous chaos, with Nowell preferring to float during the song’s calm first half. “Evil Men,” which touches on tyranny and rebellion, features that classic ska backbeat and a guitar melody that suggests more lighthearted subject matter. Even when Sublime takes aim at the powers that be, it sounds like a damn good time.