Ska

Latest Articles

The Toasters look back at early days of stateside ska

30-year-old skank
Despite its seminal role in the creation of first-wave UK punk, ska in America doesn't get no respect.
By REYAN ALI | January 10, 2012

Occult Detective Club | Crimes

Alive (2011)
It's tough coming up with anything new in punk rock that isn't going to sound as if you were trying too hard to reinvent something that's as basic as it gets
By MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER | March 03, 2011

Laura Stevenson moves from aggression to affirmation

Yes we Cans
Fuck math. All teenagers should be forced to play in punk bands.
By BARRY THOMPSON | February 01, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

Love in Stockholm | A King's Ransom

Self-released (2010)
If your judgment on Love in Stockholm were based solely on their penchant for matching suits and shades, their humble origins as BU undergrads who formed a band in order to obtain "free beer and girls," and their parody video of the Lonely Island's "I'm on a Boat," you'd conclude that they're tools.
By BARRY THOMPSON | November 30, 2010

Do the math

Off the Couch
Three blistering nights at the 201
By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | March 03, 2010

Mixing it up

B. + Sage + Roz + Chelsy + Stefan + more
B. DOLAN and SAGE FRANCIS provided memorable highlights at this year’s Rock the Bells in Mansfield; watch the Strange Famous reps slay Jerky’s Bar (401.621.2244) with special guest SLEEP on THURSDAY (the 12th).
By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | November 11, 2009

It's still summer

Off the Couch
From the Low Anthem to Mastamindz
By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX STAFF | August 25, 2009

Sugar-coated pop, anyone?

Jonas Dream's merry melodies
With lines such as "chock-full of sunny melodies and intimate, introspective lyrics with bright, polished production," I clearly didn't stumble onto the next Jesus Lizard here.
By CHRIS CONTI | April 28, 2009

Stay positive

Grow keep it real on livin lovin learnin
Chatting with Grow songwriter Matt Odabashian and resident rapper Sneaktechniks about their livin lovin learnin debut and upcoming CD release party, it was clear that the band has taken an admirable and ballsy approach to their music.
By CHRIS CONTI | January 06, 2009

Playlist: Octorber 19, 2007

Viva Viva, Drug Rug, DJ Kon, and more
By OLIVER MAK | November 11, 2008

Soul men

Hucknall, Hunter, and Burke
Classic soul music’s timelessness has come again.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | June 03, 2008

Not fade away

Ain't no party like a Wormtown party
Wormtown. It's a state of being, an alternative reality, a club-music subculture centered in Worcester, Massachusetts.
By CLIF GARBODEN | April 30, 2008

Old Dogs, new tricks

The mighty Indestructibles
After the Jungle Dogs went down in 1998, bandleader Tom Kutcher was keen on lightening things up.
By BOB GULLA | April 23, 2008

Boston music news: January 25, 2008

Notes on Mark Zaleski and Apollo Sunshine
Mark Zaleski is only 22, but the saxophonist, who just began his final semester at New England Conservatory, has played with both Dave Brubeck and Jethro Tull.
By JIM SULLIVAN | January 22, 2008

Show and tell

A whole new year of live music
After a brief late-December break from the usual boatload of good shows, the flood picks up right where it left off in early January.
By WILL SPITZ | January 04, 2008

Punk folk?

Bread and Roses do the regular-joe thing
What comes to mind when you think of roots music? Neatly trimmed facial hair?
By IAN SANDS | August 29, 2007

So wrong they're Righteous

These brothers make their own rules
Less than two years into their existence, the Self-Righteous Brothers already have a press kit worth of raves.
By BRETT MILANO | July 25, 2007

The rites of Robby

Roadsteamer’s new message of unity
“At first he was a douchebag,” says Roadsteamer (a/k/a Rob Potylo) of the character he created.
By MIKE MILIARD | July 09, 2007

Fact and fiction . . .

The whole wide world is on screen at the 10th Annual Newport International Film Festival
Of the 16 narrative films on deck this year at the Newport International Film Festival, several could be termed “coming-of-age.”
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | May 30, 2007

Brass tacts

What Cheer? Brigade makes its point loud and clear
In case you’ve missed it, it’s all the rage.
By BOB GULLA | May 08, 2007

Starting over

Meet They Won't Stay Dead and the Radionics
They Won’t Stay Dead is nothing if not appropriately named.
By BOB GULLA | May 03, 2007

Eye of the storm

The Slackers, Middle East, April 19, 2007
Ska shows are incongruous affairs.
By I-HSIEN SHERWOOD | April 23, 2007

Boston music news, February 16, 2007

Notes on Darkbuster, Frank Smith, and Bang Camaro
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones started it with their yearly Yuletide multi-night “Hometown Throwdown,” which ended after 2002. Now Darkbuster have revived the tradition with their “Hometown Throwup,” which in its second year takes over the Abbey Lounge February 18-24.
By JIM SULLIVAN | February 13, 2007

Live wired

The Cat Empire’s circus of sounds
The red-faced trumpet player screeches into the upper register as a jumble of timbales and turntable noise surges through the PA.
By ADAM GOLD | February 06, 2007

Seminal ska

More gems from the Studio One vaults
Heartbeat Records’ Studio One reissue series continues not only to shore up the legacy of Studio One honcho Coxsone Dodd but to present an expansive, rich portrait of Jamaican popular music.
By WAYNE MARSHALL | December 06, 2006

Rebel rouser

Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry speaks
As a producer at Clement “Coxsone” Dodd’s Studio One in the ’60s and later at his own Black Ark studio, Lee “Scratch” Perry played a critical role in developing the steady grooves of ska and roots into the addled atmospherics of dub.
By SIMON W. VOZICK-LEVINSON | December 05, 2006

Take two

Ben Potrykus gets a second shot with Christians & Lions
In 2003, Ben Potrykus, then a freshman at Emerson College and the singer of the post-hardcore band the Receiving End of Sirens, made a decision that most aspiring musicians would call crazy: he turned down a major-label record deal to stay in school. VIDEO: Behind the scenes with Christians and Lions Christians and Lions, "Sexton Under Glass" (mp3)
By WILL SPITZ | November 27, 2006

Life after gabba-gabba

Hey, it’s Uncle Monk, featuring Tommy Ramone
You might already know that Pete Depressed and his roving Irish rousers the Gobshites are amid a recording experience at Wellspring Studio, with Depressed and Huck Bennert at the console.
By BOB GULLA | August 17, 2006

MySpace celebrity

Lily Allen’s Web-tastic career
No charm, little grace, what’s left of Alright, Still by the end are rich young Allen’s swipes at her poor, old, and obvious targets, horrific classism, the worst kind of celebrity self-obsession. Lily Allen, "Smile" (mp3)
By NICK SYLVESTER | July 31, 2006