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Why do so many hate ska?

#3
do you mean modern ska punk, or actual ska?

if it's the first one, people *may* hate it because it's a commercialization of working class Jamaican music that sucks out all the soul, groove and feeling and replaces them with sterile alt-rock guitars and grown men in oversize shorts.

if you mean the second one - i'm not sure anyone hates it, really?




;)
 
#8
British style ska (English Beat, Madness etc.) came right after the punk movement in the UK. It took all the anger out of music and replaced it with a silly psudo-raggae stew. I'm glad you enjoy it, but it just isn't my cuppa.
 
#9
I think kumbskull hit it on the head, so to speak. For me it's also because every song tends to be oversaturated with horns. I like horns just fine, but give it a break. It's like if every song you listened to, the drummer hit the crash symbol over and over throughout the whole song and never let up. It gets old fast.
 
#12
Jim Campbell said:
seems to me that ska eliminated all the best elements of the reggae influences.....most of it sounds like cheesy game show themes to me
Click to expand...

Actually, it's the reverse. Ska is chronologically pre-reggae, not derivative of it.


The reality is that GOOD ska music is timeless and wonderful. The problem is that there is an awful lot of bad ska out there. The peak and end of the 3rd wave scene produced a dookload of crap. But there are also some great bands.

As a side note, a lot of people think ska-punk-rock when they think ska, and there's a ton of great traditional and roots oriented stuff out there in the mix.
 
#13
In the late 90s, third-wave ska got HUGE. Reel Big Fish hit the mainstream and brought a lot of attention to what was previously (to most people) an underground thing. Those of us who followed punk at the time know what happened next: Every high school punk band became a high school ska band. Every show you'd go to, you'd see a handful of kids wearing checkered vans playing songs about how Ska will never die. As you might expect, most of it was terrible. Ska is often defined by its limitations. While this is true of many genres, it's particularly problematic in ska. And for the most part, most of the people involved in the scene were very hostile towards anyone who tried to add anything distinctive or new to the proven formula. If you didn't have a full horn section, if you didn't play on the offbeats, have walking basslines, or sing about the right stuff, you could expect to be shunned. As a result of all this stuff, Ska backlashed in a BIG way. So much so that even about 10 years after third-wave disappeared from most people's radars, people still haven't calmed down about it.

There are a few bands out there right now that are doing good work with third-wave elements in their music. Streetlight Manifesto, obviously, deserves a lot of credit. Also, The Arrogant Sons of B____es (not sure if I'm allowed to type that here) / Bomb the Music Industry contain a lot of aspects of ska, but re-conceptualized into something completely new. I'd recommend any of those bands.
 
#14
I don't know, where I was sitting (in the center of the 3rd wave), there was a lot of diversity in the scene. I see you're from maine, right down the coast in Boston, we played with Skavoovie & the Epitones, who were a step towards american jazz with their ska, and there were also bands like Thumper who were crushingly heavy...or you could chill with the Allstonians who had the Jamaican roots ska feel down along with some sweet soul groove...And Bim and the Bosstones (before they started to add Mighties) all had their own thing happening.

There were also plenty of NY and DC bands that covered a lot of ground...Scofflaws, Toasters, NYSJ, Slackers, Pietasters, Pilfers, Mephiskapheles, and many many others that all had their own take on the feel and groove of ska.

What DID happen is that right around 1995-96 things got crazy. The scene ate itself and every label, big and small figured they'd jump on and put out ANY band that came along. It was all ska. And really we LOVED all the kids who came out, dressed for the shows and more than anything DANCED. All ages clubs were great times and if anyone remembers the 'darker' days...when some of the stalwart bands that actually lived through the era that fell after the 2-tone era and before the 3rd wave had a tough time filling a room. It was a blast to go to and play at shows with thousands of people.
 
#18
I<34080 said:
I want to listen to the guitar or a keyboard play the melody, not a trombone.
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Then you'll be missing out on a lot of good music because you've got a prejudice against a certain instrument.

You know a lot of people feel that way about bass, and they're also missing out on a lot of good music and great artistry.
 

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