The MIBs (short for Men in Black) were a mid 90s ska band from Peoria IL that I grew up seeing every chance I got. This is their first recording, and I must admit, they got much better, and were awesome live. They were a very traditional ska band, and when I was younger it wasn’t really the kind of ska stuff I gravitated to, but they always brought the goods live so I was happy to toss down my $2 – $5 to see them play. My brother and I would even dress up in our plaid suits to go and see them play anywhere and well as with plenty of other regional ska bands like Roscoe P. Soultrane and the Parka Kings. Members of the MIBs went on to form the (short lived) Ruschies, who in turn eventually became Corey Dixon & the Zvooks. When they were known as Corey Dixon & the Zvooks is about the time I went from fan to friend with some of the members. Corey, J.T. and Anthony were some of the nicest guys hang out with. Enter a late night diner all alone and if you saw them they’d always invite you to sit with them to while away the time. Corey Dixon & the Zvooks played several shows along (my band) 1209towanda, were always super supportive of us and Corey once even served up some inspiration for our Christmas show. Like I said, wonderful group of guys. After several tours of Europe they shortened their name to the Zvooks and eventually broke up. Members of that band went on to form the Drastics. And thus concludes your Midwest ska history lesson! The songs here today are from their long out of print 7″. Two of the songs “Commitment” and “Ant Dance” also made it onto to the even more obscure “Perverts, Freaks & Weirdos” compilation CD.
Side A
MIB
Commitment
Side B
Just for Kicks
Ant Dance
Artwork
Front, Back & the Record
23min of Ska 
I loved the MIB’s. I actually picked up one of their CD’s at goodwill (when it was on university) about ten years ago. Unfortunately, my CD collection has since been stolen, and I lost it. Impossible to find. Do you have any other MIB’s?
Give me a few weeks & I can get you the tracks for the album.
If you didn’t know, many of the MIBs went on to form (what I consider an even better band called) the Zvooks. Their album can be found online from Jump Up Records. Check ’em out.
I didn’t know about the Zvooks, I’ll have to check them out. Thanks for responding and any MIB’s would be much,much appreciated. Thanks Again!
Hey,
I just ran across this (2 years later). This is Jason, founding member of the Mibs. I have a small handful of the CDs available if you never got a hold of one… Thanks for the post! There’s very little on the internet about the Mibs. Maybe I should post some stuff… The Ruschies were definitely more of what I was trying to accomplish (stylistically) with the Mibs. By the time we got the “sound” down, we realized how silly the name was and changed it. Then I moved to Chicago and the rest of the guys formed the Zvooks, who I agree where much better. I went on to play in a handful of Mod revival and indie bands, most recently My Were They. And now run my own graphic design studio called Delicious Design League, which is now my tie to the music industry.
Fun times!
Jason Teegarden-Downs
Woah! Hey Jason! I totally have a MIBs album, but if you have any extras of that Ruschies cassette, I’d gladly take one of those! I loved seeing you guys back in the day, a lot of good times had around Peoria. You should totally put some stuff up about the band! More folks should know. And the DDL stuff you’ve done looks mighty awesome!
thank you for highlighting the mibs! i too grew up in peoria back in the 90’s, and my best friend amanda’s brother tom riley was the trumpet player for them. i used to go see them with all of my rudie friends in high school, and unfortunately, all of my vinyl was destroyed, so i haven’t been able to listen to this stuff anymore.
You have no idea how happy I am you posted this! I know I’m a little late to the party, but my buddy Dave & I used to see the MIBs at a bowling alley in East Peoria back in the day. I remember seeing the guys in the plaid suits! I have this vinyl in A1 perfect condition still! There is one song the MIBs played that I cannot remember the name of that I freakin loved! Not on the vinyl album. I wish I could remember the name. Anyway, MIBs, if you’re reading this, you guys were awesome! You welcomed me into ska with the likes of the old school Bosstones & Skankin’ 🥒! ✊