This month’s playlist comes from me discovering the band Skameleon. They’re a German band who specialise in covering pop songs in the third-wave ska style.
I’ve long had a soft spot for ska music – a close friend of mine started to get into it when we were at college and so I passively listened to lots of his music. It was also popular when I get to university, as part of a broader alternative music scene along with metal and pop-punk. So, this month’s playlist starts with Skameleon, and includes various other ska cover versions by other bands. As usual, you can listen along on Spotify, and, if you want a longer playlist, here’s another one that I found.
- “Rhythm Is A Dancer” by Skameleon. This is a cover of Snap’s 1992 dance hit. Skameleon have done a couple of albums of covers now and this is one of the better ones, but they’re all pretty good.
- “Get Lucky” by Russkaja. Russkaja were a Russian-themed ska band from Austria, with some songs sung in Russian; they disbanded in 2023 following the war in Ukraine. This is a cover of the Daft Punk song with Pharrell Williams.
- “Take On Me” by Reel Big Fish. You can’t have a third-wave ska playlist without at least one Reel Big Fish song on it, so here’s their cover of a-ha’s greatest hit.
- “Hot N Cold” by Los Colorados. Speaking of Ukraine, this is a Ukrainian band that do covers – indeed, when they recorded this version of Katy Perry’s song, the lead singer didn’t actually speak English.
- “Come On Eileen” by Save Ferris. This is a classic 2000s student union rock night staple, and a cover of the song by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
- “Chop Suey!” by King Punch. Speaking of 2000s student union rock night staples, you would often come across this System Of A Down song. Here’s a ska version of it.
- “The Final Countdown” by Furillo. Apparently the band Europe have released 11 studio albums, so to call them a one-hit wonder would be inaccurate, but I’ll admit this is the only song of theirs I can name.
- “I Will Survive” by Me First And The Gimme Gimmes. Another band that typify third-wave ska, this is their cover of the Gloria Gaynor classic.
- “Hotel California” by Skadaddyz. The Eagles’ original is quite a laid back song that converts quite easily to ska, courtesy of the Skadaddyz.
- “YMCA” by The Skunks. Again, the use of brass instruments in the Village People original makes this a relatively straightforward conversion to ska.