Archive for the ‘ska’ Category
Monkey
December 31st, 2006 | 
Author: MySpace (listen to “You Don’t Know.” And download the instrumental “Cruel Tutelage.”)
Hometown: Cupertino
Next local show: 1/5, Phoenix Theatre (Petaluma)
Recent release: Cruel Tutelage, 2005
Ska kicks ass. Not nerdy, third-wave revival ska like Reel Big Fish and the Aquabats, but legit stuff like the Toasters and the Slackers and the Specials. Unfortunately, the aforementioned third-wave groups made a big stink in the mid-’90s and subsequently left an awful taste in most music fans’ mouths. It’s a real shame. Because good ska is great music.
Monkey play good ska. Here’s a review penned by a NASCENT…associate…in the East Bay Express that attests as much. Ska may not be cool, but it sure is fun. Monkey knows this. Their goal is not to become the subject of a major-label bidding war or to sell out back-to-back nights at the Great American Music Hall (though we assume they wouldn’t reject either circumstance), but simply to make great music and keep ska healthy. For four years now, the Ska is Dead tour has been playing with the idea that ska is a stale remnant of pop culture past, killed by third-wave backlash and a severe shortage of checkerboard Vans. Most non-delusional ska bands today are painfully aware of the genre’s lack of mainstream and popular cache.
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