10 Greatest Forgotten Songs Of The 2000s
2. No Doubt - Bathwater
The 2000s will be remembered for plenty of great musical movements. Chief among them probably isn’t ska punk, but when it works - like this deeply underrated No Doubt single - it’s a subgenre that’s as delightfully nostalgic as any other.
The Gwen Stefani-led act made their biggest splash as they moved away from the brassy ska sound with the sharp pop of Just a Girl and Don’t Speak. While 2000’s Return to Saturn album is on the baggy side, Bathwater is a great return to the skanking sound of the band’s earliest days.
Stefani’s confidence as a performer has come on bounds by this point and she’s front and centre of one of No Doubt’s best melodies. She’s ably assisted by a particularly heavy groove and beat, the band finding a neat midway point between the occasionally thin ska style and the polished, pounding style of the ‘90s.
There’s a brass break in there, but it’s kept relatively brief. It deserves a place near the top of No Doubt’s discography for sure.