The TFP taste-test - SKA
 

I know we always talk about what we are listening to right now, and what songs means what to us, but I wanted to get an idea of what we like on the whole..

I'll start with Ska.. I'd like to know if you like Ska, and what groups you like..

Maybe those who don't know about it might pick it up, and the fans out there can find some new groups..

I'll start:

Love Ska, everything about it. My favorite group has to be Reel Big Fish. Especially "Somebody hates me" and "Brand New Hero"

I don't mind ska, i won't go out of my way to hear ska. Generally it bothers me when musicians ruin other people's music by doing a ska cover of said music. Just my opinion though.

love ska. looooove it.

bands with sites:
mighty mighty bosstones
www.bosstones.com

english beat (or special beat)
www.thebeatuk.com

more favorites:
skatelites, pietasters, the usuals, madness, the specials, and mephiskapheles

and most classic ska (the real deal) can be found on the sanctuary / trojan label. here's an amazon link to a kick ass box set that has lots of links to similars.

once you're into it, the early jimmy cliff and bob marley recordings are sublime.

I agree with you on that, thats why I like Reel Big Fish.. 90% of their songs are original.

I like Save Ferris and Reel Big Fish... but I don't really care about any others

I forgot Save Ferris.. Great music, and the singer is hot ;) (at least I think she was the singer, I cant remember now)

I'm definitely a ska fan. Reel Big Fish are some cool guys and great musicians.
If you like them, check out the Forces of Evil
www.theforcesofevil-ska.com

and
Suburban Legends:
www.suburbanlegends.com

I could go on about ska for hours, but these are my personal favorites.

Could someone describe "ska" for me? I hear about the genre a lot, but I don't really know what it is :confused:

dictionary
From Skully records
http://www.skullyrecords.com/sowhat.htm

Big ska fan here, and I've seen RBF live three times. I think the drummer on Cheer Up was significantly more musical than their previous recordings, but unfortunately he has left.

My other favorite ska-ish band is Perfect Thyroid. They were an upstate NY band together for about ten years, recently broke up. If you can track down "Which One Of Us Is Me?", I highly recommend it. The lead singer has a rich, clear baritone, and the lyrics are very happy and PC.

I am an old school Rude Boy.

I liked ska when it first came out. I thought it was interesting and the bands that used a lot of horns (bosstones comes to mind) and the beats were really cool. A lot of the ska i hear lately seems to be nothing more than alternative music played like speedmetal. Doesn't really do much for me.

I remember a friend made me listen to it. I almost too his bibi gun and shit myslef in the head. Wasn't for me. Although I do like Real Big Fish - Take me ON

hate the bosstones, but enjoy reel big fish sometimes (even their covers!). bad ska is one of the most rythmically uninteresting forms of music, though -- guitar on the off-beat & drum on the down-beat... yawn.

I love the Pietasters. "I never wanted to be the one you bitch and moan and come home to, but as long as you look good, I'll come back to you..." Also a semi-fan of Save Ferris, Dance Hall Crashers, and the Toasters.

My favorite ska, no matter what band, is the brass sections.. Love the sound of trumpets playing that beat..

Moon Records was the shit! But they've gone belly up. Dammit. Toasters, Pietasters, The Slackers, Hepcat, and plenty of others! Mephiskapheles was especially good... I mean who could do a ska of the Bumble Bee Tuna song?

I think I'm gonna dig out my copy of Oolooloo from the Pietasters and skank my ass off.

Thanks for reminding me of ska. It's been a long time.

I like the old school ska, but heads roll when I hear No Doubt listed with The Specials or Madness as great ska bands.
It also kinda irks me when a band tries to fit the word 'ska' in their name.

Edit - Oh yeah, ska is tons o' fun to see live.

The Bosstones, Reel big fish, Five Iron Frenzy, Mephiskapheles, Catch 22, Dance Hall Crashers, plus so many more.

I will listen to ska. I remember it was one of my friends favorite. He always listened to Blue Meanies. Are they still around? Also Less than Jake. Not sure though if thats even ska.

I like Ska- brings me back to the old days of high-school club gatherings to all go watch the local bands and enjoyed seeing many ska bands including Save Ferris. so cool they are!

I like ska. Not a huge fan, but there are quite a few bands I especially like. I listen to a lot of punk, so I've branched out because there are quite a few bands that bridge the ska/punk gap. I'm a big Fishbone fan.

Also,
Reel Big Fish
The Bosstones
Skankin Pickle
Johnny Socko
Hepcat
The Aquabats
Buck-O-Nine
Pennywise (punk/ska)
Suicide Machines (punk/ska)
Operation Ivy

SKA is a wonderful thing. My three year old loves when I play SKA. He is disabled, but drags himself up and "dances" whenever I put SKA on. I grew up loving this stuff, and I have a myriad of bands I love, but if you want to hear some of the best, and develop a taste:

The Specials
The Toasters
The Untouchables
Madness
The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones
Save Feris (and the lead singer from Save Feris sings the female vocal on Reel Big Fish's "She Has a Girlfriend Now" - and RBF are not too bad themselves)

The top Ska band right now:
Streetlight Manifesto

It's Tomas from Catch 22's Keasaby Nights era and his new band. He made Catch 22, and now SM is even better.

I hate Hate HATE the Bosstones.

Only thing remotely ska-ish I listen to is Sublime.

I'm surprised no one here has mentioned the Rx Bandits.

Now before you all get disgusted because they are third wave, hear me out. With the exception of their first album, Halfway Between Here and There, which I don't like, they are hardly a typical third wave ska band.

And please try to ignore the fact that they are signed to Drive Thru records. They are one of my favorite bands, and one of the most talented (I think) to date. Don't sleep on them, check them out. Their second album, Progress, was a giant leap in their playing ability from their mediocre first album, and a lot more reggae-ish. Their new album, The Resignation, is fucking amazing - comparatively, I'd say the progress between HBH&T and Progress is doubled between Progress and The Resignation. And their lyrics, well...you should just listen to them...here's a few tracks that I highly reccomend.

from Progress...

"Nugget"
"In All Rwanda's Glory"
"VCG III"
"Infection"
"Nothing Sacred"
"All The Time"
"Status"
"Consequential Apathy"

from The Resignation...

"Overcome (The Recapitulation)"
"Sell Your Beautiful"
"Decrescendo"
"Prophetic"
"Republic"
"Taking Chase as the Serpent Slithers"
"Mastering the List"

Thank you everyone for your responses. I now have alot of CDs to buy ;) and it has given me an idea of whats good out there in SKA that I didnt know of. Hopefully we encouraged someone out there to try out the music too

What's with all the people hating the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones? Let's Face It was a great CD.

Just a few of my faves, in no particular order...and these are *all* different genres of ska, believe it or not:

The Skatalites
<--- Operation Ivy
Laurel Aitken
The Specials
The Slackers
Bosstones
Bob Marley and the Wailers (yes you heard right, check out the early stuff!! good shit!)

i like alot of old classic skinhead(Non-Racsit) ska

skacore is perty good too
voodo glow skulls

I'm just cah-razy about ska. Eaaasily my favourite genre.

Ever gone to a punk/ska show? They're insane. I love them.

Favourite ska:
Voodoo Glow Skulls
Mad Caddies
The Toasters (get Two Tone Army, by them)

^-- Highly recommend you get a few songs from the above and have a listen.

What does skinhead ska sound like?

Acquire (through no downloading means, of course) Two Tone Army by The Toasters. They're Australian ska, and they kick a ton of ass. (Non-Racist skinhead ska).

I'm not familiar with the non-racist skinhead scene, frankly, and I don't really get it. I don't know why you'd call yourself a skinhead if you don't want to be pegged as with the same title as a racist. Also, the biggest thing punk music stands for is anti-racism.

The Toasters are Australian Ska? phht. East Coast yes, Two Tone style yes, Aussie no.

The Toasters originated in NYC. They kick all sorts of ass!!! Buck Hingley, the lead singer, is originally from the UK. So was Coolie Ranx, one of the original singers who moved on to form the Pilfers. But they're not from OZ.... ;)

"Skinheads" as it relates to ska music and the British Skinhead movement has a tradition in music and culture that has nothing whatsoever to do with racism. The best link I can find right now to learn about the skinheads who are not racist is:
http://www.johnnyspencer.info/Page13.htm

and some links can be found here too:
http://ska.about.com/cs/skinheads/

I sure don't know what to make of that 2nd commment, maybe indeed it's coz you're not familiar with the non-racist skinhead scene...

Also please understand that ska is a very diverse genre of its own and *not* punk, although there is something called Punk Ska, the forefathers of which are Op Ivy.

<<<< Operation Ivy in the avatar, that is. :D

And you are right, the majority of punks are not racist.


Hope this clears some of this up!!

Well back in my punk/ska days i seen a few bands. This was in mid 90's. I saw MU330 and Mighty Mighty Boss Tones,The Toasters when they werent known at all in Florida.

I used to listen to quite a few stuff.

MU330
Mighty Mighty.
Real Big Fish.
Mephaskapheles or however ya spell it <-- i dig em.
Cant think of any other names off the top of my head.


OO and if you like true Ska. Desmond Deckor. I dont know if i spellled his last name correctly. But he is true ska. Not to mention Bob marley..

Anyways enjoy your horns folks :>


And as the above poster mentioned. OPeration Ivy is da BOMB UNITY!!!

The Amazon page at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...67NUB?v=glance

has some Realaudio links of the first few tunes that can give you a rough idea. I wish I had some better examples though...

I am enthusiastically indiffferent toward Ska, as with most types of music. I can't name a single song I like, I usually enjoy it if I hear it, but I won't go and try to find it, and I don't feel like I'm missin gout if I don't hear it.

I still listen to The Aquabats a fair amount, And Buck - O - Nine from time to time.

My personal favorites: DHC and skankin pickle

one of my favorite bands. . .the resignation is one of my favorite cds. I was amazed when it came out. I liked Halfway Between Here and There, liked Progress even more, and was just blown away by The Resignation. Hardly one of your run-of-the-mill bands.

less then jake
old gold finger
skance
catch22

ska is... w/e its ok

i like:

the clash
Rancid
sublime
less than jake
madness
the suicide machines
the voodoo glow skulls
and old no doubt

I absolutely love ska. My favorite music, and the toasters are coming to town in May! For everyone that mentioned Moon Ska, they missed Skavoovie and the Epitones, which probably had the strongest horn section I've ever heard in a ska band. Aside from those two greats, there's always the Skatalites, the Specials, and the Slackers. I also like Operation Ivy, though I'm not sure that they'd qualify as ska in my book.