The Toasters were a Third_Wave_Ska band formed in the early 1980s by Robert "Bucket" Hingley. Many consider them the first true band of the third-wave era, as they were from the United_States (as opposed to the British Two Tone movement) and had a sound much more influenced by the still-young punk music. They are quick to note they are named after toasting drinks and the term used for a type of rap popular in the Ska world, rather than the kitchen appliance.

The Toasters have been around for over 20 years now, with Hingley the only original member left. They have released many albums, most of them on the now-defunct Moon Ska record label, at one time the world's largest Ska-only record label, founded and owned by Hingley. Since the death of Moon Ska in the early 2000s, Hingley has founded a new label, Megalith Records.

Their first full length album, "Skaboom", is considered one of the classics of Ska music, and they enjoyed a small degree of commercial success in the late 1990s due to the third wave explosion, being the music for the Nickelodeon show 'Kablaam!' (listed as the "moon ska allstars") and background music in countless TV commercials, most notably a line of America Online ads.