"The Impression That I Get" — The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones had been at it since 1983. They came out of Boston's hardcore punk scene with a love of British 2 Tone ska: singer Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton, and Ben Carr, a non-musician dancer credited simply as "Bosstone." (The "Mighty Mighty" was a bartender friend's idea, added after they learned a 1950s a cappella group had already been called the Bosstones.) The plaid came from the fans: after Barrett wore it at one show, fans started showing up in it, enough that Converse hired the band to promote Chuck Taylors. By the mid-'90s they had a major-label deal with Mercury, a cameo as the frat-party band in 1995's Clueless, and spots on the 1996 and 1997 Warped Tours.

"The Impression That I Get" first appeared more than a year before the album, on Safe and Sound, a benefit record made in response to the December 30, 1994, shootings at two abortion clinics in Brookline, Massachusetts. In early 1997 it became the lead single from Let's Face It, released March 11 on Mercury and the band's own Big Rig label. The song went to No. 1 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 23 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, and it was eventually certified gold. It made Let's Face It the band's biggest seller: a platinum album that reached No. 27, the only Bosstones album ever to crack the Billboard 200's top 50. The band made its Saturday Night Live debut playing the song and ended up on Sesame Street's Elmopalooza, doing "The Zig Zag Dance" with the Count.

The song kept turning up in movies and games. It's on the soundtracks of Chasing Amy, Fathers' Day and Step Brothers, and it's a playable track in Donkey Konga, Band Hero and Rock Band 4. Barrett later became the announcer on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and at a couple of 2008 reunion shows Kimmel sat in on bass clarinet for this song. The Bosstones announced their breakup on January 27, 2022.