What are the most promising "4th-wave" sensations?

[Aidan]

What new genre does everyone think the 4th wave (if there is one) will emerge as?
Ex. 3rd wave is Ska-punk, 2nd was 2-tone, what's 4th gonna be?
I've heard talk of Skip-hop, and Ska-Jazz, such as streetlight.
I've also heard a few Ska-Remo bands, such as The Flaming Tsunamis.
Anyone else seen some other scenes?

[skaboi-j]

4thwaveDave said:

very not true...as a true fan of Japanese ska, I find that it has it's own unique sound. Japanese ska adds little nuances of J-pop in their ska...and I do feel like it's getting to be pretty big over there...I saw Oreskaband at Warped Tour last year, and they're going to be one of the bands that brings it back...Therir live energy, and their ability to get young people (I'm taking like 10 year olds) into their music compares to no other band I've ever seen. feel like TSPO will be to the 4th Wave what the Toasters was for the 3rd....but yea...some interesting bands you should listen to if you don't believe me: Yum Yum Orange, Rude Bones, Kemuri, Doberman, Retro Honpo, Gelugugu, Gollbetty, Mule Train, ARTS, Muramasa, Over ska Drives, Potshot, Ska Ska Club, The Japonicans, The Miceteeth, The Ska Flames...many, many more...

Atheist Anarcho Rudi said:

Skibz McCullock said:

Streetlight is "ska-jazz"? That's a new one...

I've said for a while that if a fourth wave were to happen, I doubt it'd be in America. American ska/ska-punk/whatever hasn't changed enough in the last decade. Even though there are a number of bands who are adopting different sounds (though, in my opinion, nothing really exciting), there's not enough of them to really constitute a 'movement'. My guess is that, should there ever be a fourth wave, it will take place in Japan, since there's a lot of innovative stuff happening over there and ska is still in the mainstream. That or Europe; there's a startlingly large number of new bands coming from Europe.

In America, though, I wouldn't be surprised if trad reggae makes a small splash in the media, what with the rise of The Aggrolites and Tim Armstrong's solo album. Plus Lily Allen has seemed to introduce pop-ska to the American public.

u mention how ska is in the mainstream in japan making it promising for a 4th wave.... i disagree. i think the places where waves start is underground. way underground. meaning the next wave prob will not be from japan(especially considering japanese ska has nothing definitive about it to seperate it from other ska anywhere else in my op). soooo. we need an underground scene with a new sound. and it exists: mexican skacore. la resistencia, sekta core, and all that fun stuff will prob be wat the next wave will be based on, or is it here today. mix streetlight, leftover crack, trad ska, foreign influences, reggae, and hispanic skacore(arguably the next wave in itself) and i think thats what we will be looking at

do you know anywhere here in the bay area where some of those j-ska bands have records? i've never been into j-ska but am definitely interested in check some out.

[Claudia Yap]

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[Gimpsters]

Claudia Yap broke the thread...

[Darren Drouin]

mexi-ska which combines latin and metal influences into ska

[Skibz McCullock]

Darren Drouin said:

mexi-ska which combines latin jazz influences into ska

^^Fixed, into something much more interesting.

[JJ Loy]

I agree with those that don't believe that we will see another wave, as we've experienced before. The main reason being, the internet. I've been tracking ska's popularity, very closely, these past ten years or so- and while I see an upward swing, I'm not seeing it dominated by one region, style or label. I AM seeing a lot of localized action popping up in areas all over the world. Plus, I doubt Mtv will over-saturate the scene, this time around.

As for viable styles and sub-genres- I think traditional ska has started to heal some of the ska prejudice the rest of the music scene has shown us. Also, the trad scene has sprouted a resurgence in another JA sub-genre- that being Early Reggae like the Aggrolites play. Not ska, I know- but this thing is coming from the ska scene, trust. Europe is on reggae fire, right now, with over a dozen bands releasing skinhead style albums last year.

The UK seems to be producing more ska-punk than I would expect, and I'm really into some of the innovative approaches to a lot of it. esp about half the stuff on Do The Dog. I'm also very glad to hear a lot of you praising Streetlight- I think that they are heads above your average 3rd wave group.

I bet you that there will be more 2-Tone style bands popping up this next year, too.

Keep your ears on- No. 1 Station, Green Room Rockers, The Caroloregians, Kinky Coo Coos, One Night Band, Scrappy, Sonic Boom Six, Dirty Revolution, too many to mention-

-and I still miss the Dead 60's

[RudyBoyAlex]

saw a band called ceremonial snips perform awhile ago, they may still be in the third wave category but i think they have a more hardcore aspect. I think it'll go more into that area due to recent trends of more extreme music like metalcore becoming popular so newer bands may try to just throw a horn section in:S
who knows lol

[The Get-Ups]

This seems to be one of the most mature and informed responses that I have read. I am in a ska-punk band (think Reel Big Fish and Less than Jake sounding ska) but as I get older I find the more mature sounding ska growing on me. I used to listen to only the pop-punky style of ska but bands like "Big D" and "Mustard Plug" seem to spark my interest much more than in the past (but don't get me wrong, I still love "Reel Big Fish" and "Less Than Jake".

The only reason why I think the 4th wave (I have doubts there will be a 4th wave) won't be a mature ska is that the age of the ska kids seems to be getting younger. It seems every time we play a teen club the kids go crazy but if we are playing a bar fewer ska enthusiasts come to the show each time.

So to summarize, while the older ska enthusiasts seem to prefer a more mature sounding style the kids that make up most of today's alternative music scene seem to prefer the pop-punky, bubble gum style of ska. Feel free to disagree with me though.


Keep on skankin"
The Get-Ups

Gimpsters said:

I went and created a profile just for this discussion:

I think the next wave of ska is going to be, to put it simply: grown up ska.
We can all admit that 3rd wave, with it's super poppy sound, catchy hooks and stuff, it's all catered, at least with the mainstream stuff (Reel Big Fish, No Doubt, Less Than Jake, etc.) to a young teen audience. That's why a lot of people when they hear 3rd wave think of it as kiddy.
I think the next wave will be the people who grew up listening to 3rd wave growing up and playing a more mature sounding ska.
Don't take this as a "I hate 3rd wave cuz it's immature" cuz I love 3rd wave just as much as any other ska-thusiast.
Bands like Mad Caddies, Big D & the Kids Table, even Mustard Plug, standard 3rd wave ska bands, but on their new albums you can hear a maturity in their music, more complex, less simple hooks, even more dark. Streetlight has been doing this since their beginning.
I think that the 4th wave is going to be mature, more serious ska. Like I said before, all the 3rd wave fans growing up and playing their own version of it.
That's my thoughts.

[asdfasdf]

I live in Southern California: the Los Angeles Area (San Fernando Valley). Though it is not known as the "4th wave" here, there is a complete new breed of ska. For lack of better words, it has "Taken Over" the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles. I guess you can consider it underground still, as many of the shows are in backyards, and steadily playing more venues. It is known as SkaCore, which basically describes it self (ska/reggae combined with hardcore. newer bands include: blastbeats, breakdowns, etc). And believe me it sounds good, and us fans LOVE it. many of the older skacore bands sound like ordinary, ska/punk in spanish, but known as skacore to the fans. many of the bands here are very young though the successful bands have become very well known and become big hits among the Hispanic/Latino community from southern california, reaching Mexico. I estimate that 95% of these bands use spanish lyrics, but still include english. check out: www.myspace.com/evoekore - the website of the leading promoter of this subgenre. bands include. Sekta Core, 8 Kalacas, South Central Skankers, Amenaza, Los Arambula, and many many more great bands!

[SKALAMARES]

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[LA Rude Boy]

I hate to tell you this but you got it all wrong interms of not being able to skank. In Los Angeles, the Ska-Core scene is the biggest ska scene these days and it's all in spanish, but at these shows people are way more concerned with skanking than any other culture i've seen. When Big D or Mustard Plug come in town there is usually one skank circle at their shows and if a lot of kids show up the circle usually turns into a cluster fuck of kids trying to dance. At all the Ska-core shows i go to monthly, there are atleast 6 circles going at one concert and EVERYONE skanks.

Skabobins said:

Austin said:

4th wave ska is definitely ska-core. it's not my favorite, but it is what it is. there are some pretty good ska-core songs, but as a whole ska-core is so-so. but if a ska-core band is getting popularity, then let them! the more attention to any form of ska is good for all of us.

i like to skank, and skanking is my thing, and skacore will bring a lot of punks and stupid people to the ska shows, therefore skanking with vanish as a dance in the ska scene and fucking hardcore dancing will come in.

that sounds like a ska apocalypse if you ask me, if i can't groove to my music, i'll explode. I know that the other bands will still be around, but FUCK THAT

[LA Rude Boy]

I'm sure people have noted this, i didnt have time to read all the other posts, but i have a first hand experience of this.

In terms of Southern California, the next wave of ska is Ska-Core.
I am a huge lover of every ska, and live in LA so when im not seeing Chris Murray or GOGO13, Im at the LA Ska-Core shows which happen atleast 2 to 3 times a month. The OC Ska scene bands like Chase Long Beach and Half Past Two sound just like the OC Ska bands of the 90's and have nothing new to add to ska.
Now ska-core is a very loose definition but the local young LA ska-core bands all have these characteristics:

- All the bands sing in spanish! This is because of LA's large hispanic community that have now adopted ska as a popular form of music.
-For the most part, it's like ska punk that focuses on skanking very fast but not in such a sloppy manner to where it's not on the upbeat, the drummer also doesnt focus on playing the punk beat like many other ska punk bands (Streetlight, Chocking V, AAA) but plays a faster version of the ska beat while raising the high-hat on the upbeats (if your a drummer and need more detail, just ask)
- It also doesn't stay in one style of ska: Many songs have a 2-tone or trad feel or slower ska breakdowns so you can skank your heart out at all sorts of tempos, and every band has atleast one or two reggae songs. There is also a big latin/salsa influence in these bands
- Also, although it doesn't correspond to the music itself, Skanking at these shows is a much bigger thing than other scenes and there are always 5 or 6 skank circles at each show. Skanking also is much more technical and visually appealing since it has a style and isn't just kids flailing their arms and legs to R.B.F. (although theres nothing wrong with that, skank how you want)
-There are always horn players and 4/5 times a percussion player to add latin flavour
- Many bands have different styles: for example two great bands i always see play are Raskahuele and La Resistencia. Both of these bands play at festivals like "Ska-Core Invasion" and "Ska-Core In East Los" but have way different sounds.
--Raskahuele are a great light hearted ska/reggae band with the happiest horn riffs but play at all the Ska-Core shows. heres a link
http://www.myspace.com/raskahuele (Check out the song "Tiro Loco")
--La Resistencia are a much harder sounding Ska band that have a much more "Ska-Core" sound
http://www.myspace.com/laresistencia (Check out the song "Resiste")

I am an active Los Angeles Ska enthusiast, musician, and am at EVERY ska show in Los Angeles and I feel that the biggest, youngest, most active ska scene out now with a different sound than what we all heard in the 90's in the Los Angeles Ska-Core Scene.