A Question for the Punk/Ska Punk Crowd...

[Skibz McCullock]

I'm curious about how the younger, ska punk crowd feels towards the more traditional ska, be it Jamaican, 2-Tone, or even trad revival. I've seen young people who only listen to ska punk (and it's questionable about whether they're even aware of the first wave), but I've also seen kids at Hepcat and Skatalites shows as young as 15 or 16. I'm wondering if perhaps the ska punk and ska crowds are intertwined, or is ska punk just a completely different world altogether?

The question is thus, punk and ska punk kids: what are your feelings towards traditional ska? How much effort, if any, do you put into researching the history of the genre? Do you feel that there's a strong connection between the ska and ska punk crowds?

Also, if any of you do listen to it, why? Do you genuinely enjoy it, or feel you should? So many times I've seen the Rancid-type punk kids at Slackers or Hepcat shows and they just look really bored.

[Steven Denney Shafer II]

As you know from out few conversations about the traditional tunes I love it. I would say i listen to trad ska as much 9sometimes more) than ska-punk. I love it. Love the sound, love the feel, love the messages, love everything about it. I'm also a big fan of Rocksteady and Reggae.

I dunno, maybe I'm weird, but I'd rather go to a Hepcat show than a Less Than Jake show any day of the week.

[passafire]

Id rather go to hepcat than new LTJ....

[passafire]

Mostly i am into punk/ska-punk but i can respect the beats and the messages from the trad stuff...as i listen to it more and more im starting to like it better, like the first time i heard The Skatalites i didn't like them but i had heard so many good things about them that i kept listening. At first it was an obligation type thing but now i really like their music.

I put a ton of effort into reasearching the genre...i want to know what im listening to and how it came to be that we are listening to this type of music and where it came from.

on the whole i would say that i like ska-punk more because it's faster and im still not over my high school punk days yet but maybe when i get a little older we'll see....

[AUGGIE / Skank-Out]

Punk just ruins my Skanking. I can listen to it OK, and I get it! But at shows...I just don't enjoy it.

It's Shitty when one kid has only understood one concept of dancing and moshes when we all start skanking. They decide to run out there and usually end up decking some young girls in the face and kicking people down. But also people don't you get mad when your listening to a punk show and people hit into you and your all "WTF!"...-Hey, your at a punk show.

I've seen some dudes get taken out at a HEPCAT show and some LA shows cause they cant figure out that no one wants to get moshed-on during a trad ska set. Even skins will send people to the back of the room, or sit them down, or even get physical if kids are moshing and SKANKING. Instead remember to chill out and dance to that old style.

Some advise, I guess, is to dance on cue and take a hint from the people and music around you.

[Tim]

I'm 17, if that's young. And I love traditional ska as well as punk.

Listening to both really keeps me in check. And I wouldn't know much about the connection between ska punk and ska because I've just gotten into the scene; so really, I just listen to my music.

But I really do prefer the laid-back attitude of the traditional stuff compared to some of the punk, simply because sometimes I feel the electric guitars get in the way of the horns. It all depends on how the song/band is able to work them together.


Probably because I was into underground hip hop before I discovered the messianic audio that is ska.

[Doctor_Colin]

Im into both. I consider ska/punk to be ska before i consider it as punk. Although there are exception to that rule. I think of rancid as punk with ska influence, and op ivy the same way. However alot of ska/punk bands i don't even consider punk at all.

[Miss Upsetter]

You know, coming up when i was young, I felt a true love for traditional JA music. I was always the youngest...then around 15,16,17, a few younger folk (i'm talking under 20) started getting into older sounds as well. It was pretty split. The ska punk crowd would call us "elitests" for some reason. We found it kind of silly, because being "elite" means that they're of a higher ranking - that they are better. So, in essence, they were saying we were better than them.

They would alway try to start fights with our crowd, which was very confusing. They said that we'd pick on them, but we had better things to do. They were the antagonists who were trying to prove something.

I don't know if it's like that anymore, or if that was just here for that nanosecond in the timeline of the subculture. I still find it kind of funny though. A few of my girlfriends and I started a "crew" and dubbed it the martini ladies. Next thing we know, these kids are taking it seriously and making up gossip about how we threaten them and whatnot. Oh, youth... :D

[Stephen Houghton]

Yeah i love Punk/Ska, but not just that some trad ska works for me. anything i can do a bit of a dance too i like. Will try anything and see how it unfolds.

As for the only one dance at punk ska shows. i hear you, but its loadsa fun to do a ska punk skank. And well give them a show as to what pits are like in the ska world. But its annoying none the less. me x

[Doctor_Colin]

elite and elitist mean diffrent things.

Elitist means they were saying thought you where better than them.

[MamaCass]

I can't speak for everyone, but I love all ska. I listen to everything from Desmond Dekker to Bad Manners to Streetlight Manifesto. My first introduction to the genre was through ska punk, but I expanded by knowledge and my collection pretty quickly and eventually that led me back to the beginning. I spend a lot of time researching the history because it helps me understand the music better and I appreciate it more because I appreciate its roots. I do not think it is necessary to do that, however, because the music is just as enjoyable without knowing the history and there's nothing wrong with listening to a few ska punk bands and calling it a day if you're just a restless kid who needs to get some energy out. I also think that even though some of these kids might not know where the music really comes from, they are still connected in a way, because giving people a reason to get together, feel good and burn some energy is something ska has always been very good for, whether in Jamaican dance halls or basement clubs in Allston. For me, learning about ska history and culture is fun and I enjoy it, that's why I do it. Same with all the old music, I enjoy that just as much as I enjoy the newer stuff. I don't feel any of that is mandatory, by any means, I just like it. The way I see it, ska should be enjoyable. So if you feel learning the roots will increase your enjoyment of the music then go for it, if you just like the sound and you just want to dance without having to think too much about it, then do that. Just don't be a douchebag and everything will be fine.

[Sockhops&Sodapops]

i find that the two genre's are very different, when you add a harder more upbeat sound to the traditional sound of ska the fundamentals change, it is not hard to believe that there would be people that like one era and dislike the other, the point I'm trying to raise is that slapping the name ska on something will not make it universally likable

but thats just me

[powellmacaque]

I like a lot of the Trad ska, the Specials, Beat, Bad Manners.
I like reggae and rocksteady also.
I'm very much into ska-punk.

The only thing I really don't like are the pop-ska bands that popped up during the 90's and 00's and started singing about silly garbage, it seemed like they were "trying" to be ska.

But, since I got into punk before getting into ska, it's easier for me to listen to ska punk. That, and a lot of the earlier stuff is hard for me to get ahold of living in a small town.